Here are Kroc Rows explained by the man himself, Matt Kroczaleski.
- drop shoulder at the bottom to stretch the back muscles
- at the top, elbows back, shoulders back, think “shoulder blades together”
- he aims for 20 reps, if he gets more, he ups the weight
Can someone please explain to me the difference between Kroc rows and Chinese dumbbell rows? They look very similar in execution, or am I wrong? Is there also a different effect from each, or are they similar in that regard also?
Kroc rows refer to doing 1 max rep set with maximum weight and big stretch at the bottom.
From what I’ve seen, the placement of hands & feet is different as well.
With Kroc rows, use a staggered stance (1 forward, 1 back) and rest your hand on something similar to your hip height. Go fast, but control it without too much hip movement, aim for your rib cage.
It’s a bodybuilding / strength movement.
With Chinese DB rows, use a wider stance and rest your hand on your leg. Explode the weight up as fast as you can, aim for your pecs. (Basically doing a clean pull with a dumbbell instead of a barbell.)
It’s an assistance movement for an olympic lift.
A Meadows row is also similar, but he uses the T-Bar machine in leau of a dumbbell.
“It’s an assistance movement for an olympic lift”
Can’t a movement be both an assistance lift and a bodybuilding/strength movement? Mid-back hypertrophy & strength is actually something the Chinese go for.
I don’t see why not, sure.
Me trying to categorize the movements as I did was to give an idea of what kind of person usually uses that move in their training.
I can’t imagine Arnold doing Chinese DB rows, for example, nor olympic lifters doing Kroc rows. There’s just no need for their sport.
Both movements are extremely similar, but used by different types of athletes for different purposes. But yeah, they accomplish basically the same thing (as you said, “Mid-back hypertrophy & strength”).
Also – to quote Paul Carter: it’s important to not get stuck in the mental masturbation crew. If it works for you, great, use it. If not, don’t. Simple.
The quote from Paul Carter actually sums up what I was trying to point out, that I don’t personally think the Chinese rows should be considered an Olympic assistance lift. You said yourself that they and Kroc rows are basically the same thing, so at what point do we stop calling a lift an Olympic assistance lift and start calling it a strength/hypertrophy lift, and vice versa? It’s my personal belief that people call too many exercises “Olympic assistance lifts” where they can simply be classified as strength lifts, and as you showed, they often are. To me at least, Olympic assistance lifts are lifts that DIRECTLY mimic movements of the main lifts (such as snatch pulls, clean pulls, jerks, etc.).
You forgot the 4th point on that list. If your name is Matt Kroczaleski you proceed to inject your daily dose of steroids. If your name is not Matt Kroczaleski , do some other exercise entirely.
So you’re saying someone who’s natty doesn’t benefit from doing high volume DB rows? XD