What a chest-supported T-Bar Row changes about the row

On most T-bar rows the set ends when the lower back or the bracing gives out, not when the upper back does. A chest pad changes that. So does letting the lifter, rather than the frame, decide where the handles travel.

A row is meant to train the upper back. On a free T-bar, or any bent-over row, the lifter also has to hold the torso still against the load, and that job falls to the lower back and the trunk. On a heavy set those often give out first, and the upper back gets a set that ended early.

What the chest pad takes away

The Citadel T-Bar Row puts an adjustable chest pad under the chest and abs. With the torso supported, the lower back and the stabilisers stop being the limit, and the upper back decides when the set is over. The slanted super grip footplate locks the feet in, because a row is only as stable as the feet.

The pad adjusts so lifters of any height can set it up properly, and it rotates, which lets the lifter change the resistance profile of the row. The torso angle is chosen, not simply accepted.

The lifter chooses the arm path

Most machines fix the path of the handles when the frame is welded. Here the centre mechanism rotates freely through the rep, so the lifter decides the arm path and the arc of the handles depending on which muscles they want to bias. Elbows tucked, flared or anywhere between, the machine follows rather than fighting.

The 28mm knurled stainless steel handles rotate and lock, with four hand positions: neutral, semi supinated, semi pronated and pronated. Changing grip shifts the emphasis across the back without changing machines, and the knurling means grip is not the limiting factor either.

Hard without a stack of plates

The handles are mounted on the long arm, so the machine is challenging without loading a lot of weight. Its strength profile is built to match the profile of the back muscles through the rep.

At a glance

Where it sits on a back floor

The Lat Pulldown and the Vertical Pulldown pull from overhead. The T-Bar Row is the horizontal pull beside them, and a back floor with all three covers both directions without two machines doing the same job.

Built like the rest of the range

The frame is 75x75 Australian RHS box section, with bearings and indexing pins rated beyond 2 tonnes, so it handles any weight your members can use. It is plate loaded, with no motor, no electronics and no power supply. It carries twenty years structural on the welded frame and seven years on moving parts, and it is finished in any powder coat and any upholstery you specify. It is designed and made in Australia.