The renegade row is a dumbbell row done from the top of a push-up. You hold a high plank with your hands on two dumbbells, row one to your side while the other arm and both feet hold you up, set it down and row the other. The hard part is keeping the hips and shoulders square while one hand is off the floor.
Nobody is credited with inventing or naming it; a web search on October 30, 2026 found no originator. Brolic lists it as Renegade Row (Dumbbell), with “Dumbbell Renegade Row” as an alias, and logs it as a two-sided exercise: the rep count is the total number of rows, left and right together.
Muscles worked
Brolic tags the abdominals and upper back as the primary muscle groups, with the latissimus dorsi as secondary. BarBend’s tutorial calls it a best-of-all-worlds exercise: the core holds the extended plank, the upper back and lats row, and with three limbs planted the whole body has to stay still. Coach Nick’s video description names the lats, shoulders and abs.
No published study measures it: a PubMed search on October 30, 2026 found the phrase “renegade row” in no indexed paper, so nothing establishes that it builds more back or abdominal muscle than a plank and a dumbbell row done separately.
Set the plank
Put the dumbbells under your shoulders. BarBend places them directly under the shoulders, adjusted a little for shoulder width and what feels best.
Set the feet between hip and shoulder width. BarBend says a wider stance makes it easier, because the base is wider, and names feet too close together as a common mistake: the feet lift and the hips shift as you row. Coach Nick warns against both ends. Too narrow and you rock and rotate; very wide and you remove most of the core challenge. He settles on about hip to shoulder width.
Brace as for a plank. BarBend braces the core, squeezes the glutes and drives the heels toward the floor before the first row. Coach Nick engages the core and squeezes the glutes a little.
Hold a straight line from shoulder to heel. Coach Nick wants the hips neither too high nor too low. Check in a mirror, or balance an exercise slider on your back as he does in his classes; if the hips rise, drop or rotate, it falls off.
Row one side at a time
Row as you would a one-arm dumbbell row. BarBend’s cue is starting a lawnmower, pulling with the lat, and it warns against swinging the elbow out to pull the dumbbell high. Coach Nick keeps the row short: the dumbbell comes up to your side, with the elbow not far past the body. Lower it under control, then row the other side.
Slow it down. Coach Nick’s fix for rocking and rotating is a “one-one” tempo, a count of one up and one down, which keeps the trunk “still and silent”.
If the hips hike or the arm swings, go lighter. BarBend names too much weight as the first common mistake: the chest opens, the hips hike, and the point of holding the body still is lost.
Beside the dumbbell row and the gorilla row
| Renegade row | Single-arm dumbbell row | Gorilla row | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | High plank, face down | Hinged, a hand and knee on a bench | Hinged, both feet on the floor |
| Support | The other hand on its dumbbell, and both feet | The bench | The other hand on a kettlebell on the floor, or none |
| Sides | Alternating | One side, then the other | Alternating |
BarBend expects lighter weights than in other rows and treats the renegade row as a way to add pulling volume with core work alongside. The gorilla row shares the alternating pulls and a weight on the floor as a prop, but you stand hinged over the bells instead of holding a plank.
Logging
Brolic logs Renegade Row (Dumbbell) as a two-sided exercise. Enter the weight of one dumbbell and the total number of rows: five left and five right is a set of 10. If you add a push-up between rows, count only the rows. The free workout log has room for notes, and the weekly set tally shows how these sets add to your upper-back and abdominal work.
In the set’s note, write the foot width and any variant: a push-up between rows, kettlebells instead of dumbbells, or feet on a bench. BarBend uses each to scale the difficulty, so keep them apart when you compare sets.
Common questions
A push-up between rows? That is BarBend’s first variation: row right, row left, then a push-up, adding pushing work to the pulling. Count the rows and note the push-ups.
Kettlebells instead of dumbbells? BarBend finds them less stable, especially as you set them down, and recommends them only for advanced lifters. Brolic’s entry is the dumbbell version, so note the kettlebells.
Feet on a bench? BarBend’s third variation raises the feet so the body is closer to parallel to the floor; the presenter likens it to a seal row without the support under the chest.
How heavy? Lighter than your other rows, BarBend says: a light pair for beginners, heavier for experienced lifters, and less whenever the chest opens or the hips hike. If your lower back sags or anything hurts, stop the set.
Sources and method
- BarBend: Renegade row guide — dumbbell and foot position, the plank brace, the lawnmower row, its uses, the three variations and the two common mistakes; automatic captions and the video description.
- Coach Nick Fitness: Dumbbell renegade rows — foot width, the one-one tempo, the short row, the shoulder-to-heel line and the slider check; automatic captions, the muscles from the video description.
- PubMed search for “renegade row” on October 30, 2026 — phrase not found.
- Web search for the exercise’s origin on October 30, 2026 — no originator found.
- Brolic catalog — name, alias, logging mode and muscle tags.
Foot widths and the tempo are the coaches’ starting points, not optima from a trial, and no comparative growth claim is made against other rows.
