David PerlmutterPresident,, Perlmutter Health Center · Board-Certified Neurologist | Functional Medicine Pioneer | #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author | International Speaker | Host of The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

The Wide Row, from The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan

14 Nov 2016 · 1 min

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In this brief instructional segment, Dr. David Perlmutter demonstrates the wide row, a back-strengthening exercise. He advises using light 5‑pound dumbbells (or adjusting weight as needed) and emphasizes starting lighter to master form. Key cues include bent knees, a forward lean, looking down (though he looks up for communication), elbows kept bent, and a controlled pull‑up motion with an exhale on the pulling phase and a slow, inhaled release. He prescribes three sets of twelve repetitions with roughly one minute of rest between sets, encouraging participants to prioritize comfort and proper technique over heavy loading.

Chapters

Let's do some back work. These are 5-pound weights, and you can use more, you can use less. But to be sure, I think you should undershoot on this exercise until you get really comfortable with it. Knees bent, leaning forward. I'm going to look up, but I think you should be looking down. But I'm going to look up at you so we can talk. And keep your elbows bent. And the move is basically pulling the weights up like this, exhaling as you pull, and then dropping the weights down nice and slow. Now again, you might think you can do a lot of weight, but you want to be careful. Start off a little bit lighter than you think you might need. We're looking for 3 sets of 12. And again, let's try to have about a 1-minute break between sets. Exhale on the power move. Inhale as you relax.