The seal row is performed lying face-down on a flat bench raised high enough for your arms to hang straight. The bench holds your torso still, so your hips and lower back cannot help, and with a straight barbell each rep ends when the bar meets the underside of the bench.
Sports science studies the barbell version as the prone bench pull. Brolic lists Seal Row (Barbell) and Seal Row (Dumbbell) as separate entries; this guide covers both.
Muscles worked
Brolic tags the upper back as the primary muscle group for both entries, with the biceps and lats as secondary; the dumbbell entry also tags the rear deltoids. That follows from the joint actions: the shoulder blades pull together, the upper arms travel back and the elbows bend.
Grip and elbow path move the emphasis. John Meadows’s exercise-index video teaches a wide overhand grip with the elbows high, which moves work from the lats to the rear deltoids and mid-back; Tom MacCormick’s lat version uses a shoulder-width grip, elbows about 30° from the sides and a pull toward the navel. These are coaching descriptions, not measurements.
Set up the bench
- Raise a flat bench until your arms hang straight with the weight in your hands. Legion suggests 6 to 12 inches of plates, boxes or steps. Check that it cannot rock before loading.
- A purpose-built seal row bench is taller and has hooks for the bar. Rogue’s is 44.5 inches to the pad; without hooks, the bar starts on the floor under the bench.
- Lie with your chest on the pad and your head at its end. Tony Gentilcore’s cue is to squeeze the glutes and brace the abs so the lower back does not arch; MacCormick adds that this keeps the legs down.
Perform the row
Take an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders and start with your arms straight.
Pull until the bar touches the underside of the bench. Lead with the shoulder blades, then drive the elbows back. Keep your chest and chin on the pad: lifting the chest brings the bench to the bar and shortens the rep.
Lower under control until your arms are straight.
Start lighter than you expect. Sean Nalewanyj warns you will need much less weight than you think; Gentilcore uses sets of 8–10.
Barbell, cambered bar or dumbbells
- Straight barbell. The bar stops at the bench: every rep has the same endpoint, and the bench’s thickness sets the range.
- Cambered bar. The bend clears the bench, so your hands travel higher. Rogue’s seal row bar drops 7 inches and weighs 40 lb; enter its weight, not a standard bar’s.
- Dumbbells. They pass beside the pad, so the bench does not stop them. Nalewanyj and the Team3DMJ lifter prefer them for better shoulder-blade control; Legion treats the two as interchangeable.
Nothing establishes that one builds more muscle; different ranges make different records.
How it differs from an incline row and a Pendlay row
| Seal row | Chest-supported incline row | Pendlay row | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support | Whole torso on a flat bench | Chest on an inclined bench | None; you hold a hip hinge |
| Torso | Horizontal | Angled upward | About parallel to the floor |
| Each rep starts | Arms hanging straight | Arms hanging straight | Dead stop on the floor |
The Helms row is the incline example; the Pendlay row asks the lower back and hips to hold the position. No trial we found compares them; the table separates histories, not ranks.
Logging
Brolic logs both entries as two-arm exercises in reps with a load. For the barbell, enter the total including the bar (the barbell calculator adds it up); for dumbbells, the weight of one. Keep each equipment choice in its own history: a straight bar stops at the bench, a cambered bar and dumbbells travel past it; the same load is not the same work. Note the grip too; MacCormick warns that a heavier seal row means little if the grip narrowed to get it. The free workout log has room for bench height and grip, and the weekly set tally shows what your upper back already gets.
Common questions
Why is it called a seal row? No source we found documents who named it. Nalewanyj wrote in 2015 that under heavy weights the legs “flap” like a seal’s; MacCormick passes on a similar story as “supposedly”. Treat it as folklore.
Does the bar have to touch the bench? With a straight bar that is the usual standard; the lab protocol cited below ended a set once the bar missed twice in a row. If the top rolls your shoulders forward, Gentilcore suggests a pad on the bar to shorten the range. Log which you did.
My shoulder or lower back hurts during the set. Stop the set. Next time reduce the load or the range. Do not row through pain.
Sources and method
- Tony Gentilcore (2016) — embeds the lead video; brace, pad, sets of 8–10.
- John Meadows: Exercise Index, seal rows — Eugene Teo on a purpose-built bench; grip, elbows, bench-on-plates substitute; automatic captions.
- Team3DMJ: seal rows — the dumbbell demonstration; automatic captions.
- Legion Athletics (2024) — bench height, grip, cambered bar, Pendlay comparison.
- Tom MacCormick, SetForSet (2025) — the two setups, the chest-lifting error, the hedged name story.
- Sean Nalewanyj (2015) — the name story, the dumbbell preference, the load warning.
- Rogue Fitness: Seal Row Bench and Bar — bench height and hooks; the bar’s drop and weight; calls it the bench pull.
- Miras-Moreno et al. (2023) — the prone bench pull lab protocol.
- Brolic catalog version 2026-09-22.1 — entries, logging mode, muscle groups.
Heights, grip widths and rep ranges are starting points for learning the movement, not optima established by a trial. A PubMed search for “seal row” on October 5, 2026 returned nothing about the exercise. The prone bench pull papers we scanned test strength and velocity; none compares it with another row for growth.
