Cable Kayak Row

How to do the Cable Kayak Row

1. 1Attach a cable handle to a low pulley and sit facing the machine with your feet flat on the floor.
2. 2Grasp the handle with your right hand and extend your arm fully, keeping a slight bend in your elbow.
3. 3Lean forward from your hips, keeping your back straight and your abs engaged.
4. 4Pull the handle towards your torso by retracting your shoulder blade and bending your elbow, keeping your arm close to your body.
5. 5Squeeze your back muscles at the top of the movement, then slowly return to the starting position.
6. 6Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, then switch sides and perform with your left arm.

Tip: Pause for a full count with the handle at your torso before letting it go back.

Muscles worked

Common mistakes

• Yanking with the arms — the rep should start with the shoulder blades pulling back, then the elbows follow; if the biceps give out first, you are curling the weight.
• Torso heaving up — on bent-over rows the back angle should not change between reps; if it does, drop the weight.
• Shrugging the shoulders up — pull the elbows back and down and keep the shoulders away from the ears, especially on face pulls.
• Skipping the stretch — let the arms straighten fully and the shoulder blades slide forward at the start of each rep, then pull from there.

Where it fits in a workout

Rows are a main movement in any pull or back session and go before pulldowns and arm work. They pair well with a chest press or a push-up as a push and pull superset.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

When to talk to someone

• Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
• Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
• Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

More exercises

• All back exercises
• All lats exercises
• All cable exercises
• Cable lats exercises
• Band Face Pull
• Banded Seated Row
• Single Arm Rotating Banded Seated Row
• Banded Squat Row
• Single Arm Banded Standing Low Row
• Barbell Rear Delt Row

Sources

1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.