Close Grip Supinated Inverted Row

Also known as: underhand inverted row, supinated inverted row, supinated inverted rows, supinated grip inverted row, inverted row supinated grip, close grip inverted row, underhand grip inverted row, inverted biceps row

In SetGrip: Inverted Row (Close Grip Supinated)

Secondary muscles
Forearms, Delts
Body part
Upper Arms
Position
Hanging
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Rowing your body to a bar with a close underhand grip puts the biceps at the front of the queue while your feet stay grounded, so load scales with body angle instead of plates. Walk your feet forward or prop them on a box to make it harder, and step back upright to keep clean reps coming when fatigued.

How to do the Close Grip Supinated Inverted Row

  1. Hang from a pull-up bar with your palms facing towards you and your hands shoulder-width apart.
  2. Engage your core and pull yourself up towards the bar, focusing on using your biceps to lift your body.
  3. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position.
  4. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Think of pulling your elbows toward your back pockets rather than pulling your chin over the bar.

Muscles worked

Primary

Biceps · Arms

The biceps bend the elbow and get more work with a supinated chin-up grip; on pull-ups they are secondary.

Secondary

  • Forearms — Grip is often what fails first, so if the forearms give out before the back does, add some dead hangs or use chalk.
  • Delts

Common mistakes

  • Skipping the dead hang — half reps from bent arms skip the hardest part; let the arms straighten fully at the bottom and initiate by pulling the shoulders down first.
  • Kipping without meaning to — a swing from the hips makes the rep easier but tells you nothing about your strength; keep the legs still, or cross the ankles and squeeze the glutes.
  • Chin poking forward — reaching with the neck is a way to fake the last inch; drive the elbows down and get the chest to the bar instead.
  • Adding weight too early — get to eight or ten strict reps before you hang a plate off your belt.

Where it fits in a workout

Pull-ups and chin-ups go first or second in a pull session, before rows and pulldowns, while your grip is fresh. They superset well with dips on the same station for a push and pull block.

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

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

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.

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More exercises

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.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.