The first exercise in a movement variation series breaking down my favorite functional training exercises is one of my favorites, Renegade Rows. Renegade Rows are a plank variation that combine the movement patterns of plank, push, and pull to work on strength and stability in muscles in your core, chest, triceps, back, and shoulders.
Set Your Plank Before You Start
To complete a successful Renegade Row you first need to set your plank. Planks are essential for posture and core stability, to protect your spine and to provide a strong foundation for movement.
Stack your shoulders over your hands and step your feet back one at a time to find your strong and straight starting position.
Pull your belly button towards your spine and press back through your heels to engage your legs.
Keep your arms close to your body and your shoulders away from your ears as you lower into a push up then breathe out and push up.
Back In your plank position at the top of your push up, let’s pull one hand a time straight up to the side of your ribcage.
Reset your plank and repeat.
Scaled Down & Pulled Apart Renegade Rows
The good thing about this exercise is that it can be scaled down for different ability levels to meet you where you are. We started at the top today to show you what you’re reaching for. Perhaps today you’re working on developing the stability to move through this exercise and your Renegade Rows are completed on your knees, or you find that your upper body strength isn’t yet ready to combine push and pull movements and you pull the Renegade Row apart into push-ups on your knees and rows on your knees.
Renegade Rows can be even further scaled down to be done without weights. That’s what I’m here for: to meet you where you are and show you the variation that’s right for you. Reach out anytime to learn more about why I choose certain exercise variations and adapt exercises in real time during your workouts based on how you move and feel. We’re on this journey together.
Comments