For upper-back growth
For upper-back growth, machine row rates well ahead on our research criteria: easier to progress, easier on the joints.
Both are good choices that train the upper back the same way, so they swap freely. Rotating between them every few weeks is an easy way to vary your training.
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Machine Row. Chest support removes the lower back from the equation, so the upper back takes all the work.
Seal Row. Lying face down on a high bench removes momentum and lower-back strain, so the upper back does the pulling.
For upper-back growth, machine row rates well ahead on our research criteria: easier to progress, easier on the joints. Both are good choices that train the upper back the same way, so they swap freely. Rotating between them every few weeks is an easy way to vary your training.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Machine row needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Seal row needs a barbell and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Machine row: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Strong for seal row.