The STACK Exercise of the Week will help you improve your overall sports performance—including strength, speed, conditioning and flexibility. This week, we highlight the Hanging One-Arm Row, an exercise that increases back strength.

Who’s Doing It

• Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox 1B

Muscular Benefits

• Increases back strength
• Eliminates strength imbalances
• Increases core strength

Sports Performance Benefits

The Hanging One-Arm Row is one of the best exercises you can do to strengthen your traps, rhomboids and other critical back muscles. A stronger back allows for more powerful movements and helps you resist injury. By strengthening one side at a time, you eliminate imbalances that can cause back pain and lead to injury. This exercise is unstable in nature, so your core and other stabilizer muscles are activated to control the movement.

Hanging One-Arm Row How To

• Grab strap with one hand
• Have partner hold feet
• Pull body up as high as possible
• Slowly return to start
• Repeat for specified reps with other arm

Sets/Reps: 3-4×10-15 each arm

Coaching Points

• Begin with two-arm variation and advance to one arm
• Keep hips high and head lower than hip level
• Maintain straight line with body by flexing abs
• Get full extension through arm and lats at bottom of movement

Do you have an exercise that you want to see featured as an Exercise of the Week? Leave a comment below.