The Renegade Row is one of the hardest but most effective abdominal exercises out there because this exercise requires a lot of stabilization. You’re forced to keep your muscles rigid in order to maintain balance. In addition to the core muscles, this exercise also fires up the middle back muscles, as well as the chest, triceps and biceps. This is definitely an intermediate exercise designed to improve strength.

Learning how to do Renegade Rows is a total body exercise that will kick your butt but also help to improve your body’s overall strength and stabilization. Because Renegade Rows not only work your abdominal muscles but also your back muscles, this is a great exercise for improving posture as well as toning the whole body.

Before you get started, here are some tips on how to perfect the Renegade Row: Contract your glutes and abs. Tighten your supporting leg. Keep your body parallel (don’t twist your hips). You will need dumbbells for this exercise. Because Renegade Rows are difficult, pick weights that will increase the resistance enough to challenge you but not enough that you have to sacrifice your form. Form is so crucial for this exercise to be effective.

In today’s world, with our laptops and smartphones, we are constantly in vulnerable positions for bad posture. Our backs really take a hit! Renegade Rows are a great way to help strengthen the back muscles, which are also vital muscles for functional core strength. If you’re looking for a way to incorporate this exercise into a more robust routine, check out our Build Your Best Back workout.

1) Begin in a full plank with dumbbells in hands, arms extended, and on toes. (kneeling variation is fine if you are not able to do a full plank) Engage your abdominals drawing the belly inward towards your spine.

2) Pull right dumbbell up toward right hip bone keeping weight close to your side. Slowly return it to the floor and repeat with the left dumbbell.

Targets: triceps, core, back