By Nadia Popescu, Strength & Conditioning Writer · Updated 9 October 2026
The gorilla row is an alternating kettlebell row where you stand in a wide hip hinge with two bells on the floor between your feet, hold one bell down as a brace and row the other up to your hip. Then you lower it, switch sides and go again. It's one of the most efficient back exercises you can do with a pair of kettlebells: it trains your lats and upper back hard, makes your hinge muscles hold position the whole set, and asks your core to stop your torso twisting on every rep. You need two bells and about two square metres of floor, nothing else.
Place two kettlebells on the floor, side by side, roughly in line with the middle of your feet. They should be close enough together that both handles sit between your ankles.
The cue that makes it click
Push the floor away with the bracing hand. Actively pressing the stationary bell into the ground squares your shoulders and stops your hips rotating, which is the single biggest difference between a sloppy gorilla row and a good one.
Breathe out as you row and in as you lower, keeping the brace through your abs the whole time. If your lower back starts to round partway through a set, stand up, reset and start again rather than grinding on.
The gorilla row is a horizontal pull first and foremost, but the stance turns it into something closer to a full-body exercise.
More load than most kettlebell rows. Because you're braced through both legs and one arm, you can usually handle heavier bells than you would in a renegade row and often heavier than in a single-arm row with your hand on a bench.
Built-in rest between pulls. Each bell rests on the floor while the other side works, so the set feels like a continuous effort yet each arm gets a few seconds off. That lets you string together higher total volume than you'd expect.
It also trains the hinge without loading your spine the way a heavy barbell row does. The weight is split into two smaller bells and goes back to the floor on every rep, so your lower back holds position under a modest load instead of supporting a full bar.
Kettlebell training generally has decent support for building back strength, though the research base is young. A 2025 mini review of kettlebell programmes in musculoskeletal rehabilitation reported back and grip strength improvements of roughly 10% to 25% over 8 to 12 weeks across five studies (kettlebell training mini review), while an earlier scoping review judged most kettlebell trials small and of low methodological quality (kettlebell scoping review). Our take: the movement patterns are sound, and it's the sets, reps and progressive loading that do the heavy lifting.
Use the same weight for both bells. Rough starting points, assuming you can already hinge well:
| Experience | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| New to rowing | 6kg to 8kg | 10kg to 12kg |
| Some lifting experience | 8kg to 12kg | 12kg to 16kg |
| Experienced | 16kg to 20kg | 20kg to 28kg |
The real test is form. If you can row 8 clean reps per side with square hips and no jerking, the weight is right; once you can manage 12 per side across all your sets, move up a size. Kettlebells usually jump in 4kg steps, which is a big leap on a row, so a pair of adjustable dumbbells is a handy halfway house if you're stuck between bells.
If you're buying a pair for this, our guide to the best kettlebells in the UK covers cast iron and competition bells, and flat-bottomed bells are noticeably more stable on the floor between reps.
Rounding your back. If your hips are too low or the bells are too far forward, your lower back flexes to reach them. Move the bells back between your feet, push your hips back further and keep your chest proud. Your back should stay flat from tailbone to neck.
Twisting to finish the rep. This is the classic gorilla row error. As the bell comes up, the same-side hip and shoulder open towards the ceiling to help it along, which takes load off your back and turns the row into a rotation. Keep your chest facing the floor and press harder through the bracing bell. If you can't stop the twist, the bells are too heavy.
Jerking the bell off the floor. Yanking the bell with a bounce of the hips or a shrug of the shoulder means momentum is doing the work. Start each rep by squeezing your shoulder blade back, then pull smoothly. A one-second pause at the top quickly exposes cheating.
Flaring the elbow out wide is another common habit. It shifts the work towards your rear delts and upper traps, which isn't wrong as a variation, but if you want to hit your lats, keep the elbow close and pull towards your hip rather than your armpit.
If you prefer to take your lower back out of it entirely, a seal row lying face down on a bench removes the hinge so you can focus purely on the pull.
Gorilla rows fit wherever you'd normally put a row in your week. The NHS recommends strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week, and a row of some kind belongs in most of those sessions.
They pair nicely with a push exercise such as press-ups or a floor press in a superset, since neither move tires out the other. Avoid putting gorilla rows straight after heavy deadlifts; your lower back will already be tired and holding the hinge becomes the limiting factor rather than your lats.
A gorilla row is an alternating kettlebell row done from a wide, hip-hinged stance with two bells on the floor between your feet. You hold both handles, brace on one bell and row the other to your hip, then lower it and switch sides. Because the bells return to the floor between reps, each side gets a short dead-stop start.
Gorilla rows mainly work your lats, rhomboids, middle traps and rear delts, with your biceps and forearms helping on every pull. Holding the hinge also makes your spinal erectors, glutes and hamstrings work isometrically, and resisting the twist each time one bell leaves the floor gives your obliques and deep core plenty to do.
Most women start well with a pair of 8kg to 12kg kettlebells and most men with 12kg to 16kg, assuming some lifting experience. Fit, experienced lifters often use 20kg to 24kg bells or heavier. Pick a weight you can row for 8 clean reps per side without your hips rotating; if your torso twists, the bells are too heavy.
Yes. Set two dumbbells upright or flat between your feet and row them exactly as you would kettlebells. Dumbbells sit a little lower, so you may need to hinge slightly deeper to reach them, and the grip is less forgiving at the top, but the training effect is essentially the same.
For building your back, yes. The gorilla row lets you use heavier bells and keeps your legs and hinge doing the stabilising, so your lats and upper back can work hard. The renegade row is done from a plank, which limits the load and turns it into more of a core and anti-rotation drill. Both are useful, they just train different things.
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