 First question is from Julius Lupu. I've seen people do rows, rows pulling their traps together during the motion, while others let their shoulders roll forward. What is the correct way to perform a row? Oh, this is a good question for us to discuss. Yeah. So, you know, I used to love, I still do, I loved rows, rowing, especially cable rows, one of my favorite exercises to show my value to a potential client in terms of being a personal trainer, because rows are often done wrong. They're often done wrong by most people, especially when they first get started. Now, when you think of the motion of the row and the target muscles, you're working the lats, you're working the mid-back muscles like the rhomboids and the mid-traps, you're working a lot of the back. And the idea when you do a row is to, when you're, and there's different ways to do the row, when I'm training a new client, oftentimes I'm having super upright. They're pinching their shoulders back and then they're rowing. And I'm minimizing the shoulders rolling forward and pinching back. You see if they can control themselves and stabilize in that position first. Yes. Now, as they get better, the best way to row is when you go forward, go ahead and let your scapula roll forward. Go ahead and roll forward a little bit with your posture. Not as exaggerated as like the way Arnold did it in pumping iron, but you want that full extension and then full contraction. Then you reverse it when you roll the weight, you pull the shoulders all the way back, you squeeze, and then you repeat the rep. Well, and the reason why we do that is because most people can't stay connected to the lats when they roll the shoulders forward. That's what happens is that when you're first teaching the mechanics of a row, it's really difficult to get somebody to even understand to retract the scapula. Like that, just that in itself is- You have to put your hands on them. Right. That's like the first step is like understanding, hey, when you pull in, you're not just pulling with your arms, which is what most people do if they've never been taught this movement. You need to retract the scapula and squeeze the back and pull with your lats, right, and your rhomboids when you pull. So we're teaching, you're trying to cue that. That right there is already one piece that you first have to teach. Now, how I teach it and then how you see me do it is totally different. Well, why? Because I can stay engaged. I can keep my back engaged even as I let my shoulders roll forward. So that allows me to take the lats, the rhomboids through its full range of motion. So for me, I can do that. But most clients do teach. So the truth is, both of them have a tremendous amount of value. And in the process of teaching a really good row, I'm going to teach both. I'm going to first teach somebody to stay in that position, to stay retracted, to get that understanding of what retracting the scapula feels like, and that understanding how to engage the back and not pull the weight all with your arms. Then once I've got them to really, and that's going to be for a while, like I'm teaching that way for probably months to a beginner. And then once they really start commenting, like, oh, my God, my back was so sore, and oh, I feel that so much more, I don't even feel it in my arms. Okay, now let's advance it a little bit more. Now let me teach you how to let the shoulders roll forward and come back through full range of motion. So we get the benefits of that. Because otherwise, momentum is going to sort of take over, you know, in that initial, like, experience. And they're, you know, like having the weight kind of pulling you back and then their whole body's going to go with it naturally anyways. And to be able to first train to control and stabilize in position is crucial before we then advance with that second. It also reminds me of the little pushback. So one of our more viral videos we've done is this video that I did on the only way you should be doing a dumbbell bicep curl right the title was catch you just to get attention. And what I teach is a split stance bicep curl with your shoulders in a retracted position, and you only come up to full flexion of your bicep or where you're basically the dumbbells by your chest, and I don't allow the shoulders to rock. Well, of course, what I got by all the trolls are the nerdy kids that wanted to show how biceps actually help with shoulder abduction. Right, that one is act like they're really smart and make me look stupid that I don't understand the function, the full function of the bicep. It's not a matter of I don't understand that what I understand, I understand it very well, but then I also understand what most people do when they first learn that movement is they rock the elbows and shoulders and they end up using too much shoulder and they start using very little of the bicep. So I always coach and teach those mechanics first. So they really get the understanding of activating and using only the biceps. Then as you get advanced, like if you look at Justin, Sal, or myself, probably live biceps, you don't see us doing bicep curls with that strict form. We allow that little bit of shoulder flexion because we understand that it will take the bicep through a full range of motion, but we also know how to stay connected to the muscle no matter what and not let the other ones take over. So this is the shit that I don't like about Instagram and what a lot of coaches do is instead of them trying to fully educate people on the reason of both or how they both had value, they divide and do camps. They have hard stances on things that have multiple interpretations. Right. Like I've seen a guy do in the video. In fact, I think what prompted this question as I was tagged recently on this video of some trainer coach guy that's talking about anybody who says that you should keep your shoulders in a restricted you know, shoulders back position through the row is, you know, an idiot and he's targeting and talking shit. Well, I agree with him that you should take it through full range of motion, but I also understand my audience and understand that a majority of people that don't have those mechanics down really well, that you teach them to do that and then they don't do anything with their. Yeah, it all depends on the person. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could do a cable row and bend forward, even at the waist, get a stretch in the lats, activate the last pullback, shoulders start to pull back and I squeeze everything. Took me a long time to really be able to do that and stay really connected to the muscles of my back. So I don't teach it. I never taught it that way to my clients. So they never had clients that were really that advanced until much later in my career where I've trained people for years. But initially, you know, the way I would teach most people was to sit upright, pinch the shoulders back, activate there, hold that stable, then do your row. Don't let the shoulders roll forward too much. Later on, as they got better, then I would start incorporating, you know, certain elements. The biggest mistakes people make with a row are shoulders roll forward when they pull back. So this is a mistake that nobody should make. I don't care if you're beginner or advanced. When you, when the handle is touching your midsection or coming towards you, your shoulders should come back with that handle. Don't keep the shoulders forward. Otherwise, all you are is working his lats and you're not working any of the of the mid back muscles. The second mistake I see people making is that they shrug their shoulders. So when they do the row, they pull back and it's like they're trying to touch their ears with their shoulders and this is this typically happens because they have a weakness in the mid back. So the next available muscle takes over, which is the upper traps. And why is this a problem? Well, first off, you're not developing the muscles that you're trying to work. But number two, if you keep rowing with shrugged shoulders, you will notice neck pain, potentially neck pain in the future, or at least the risk of it will will increase pretty pretty high.