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More so than chin-ups, I'm of the opinion that if someone is wanting to really improve back strength and has access to dumb-bells then one or single arm dumb-bell rowing is the safest and most effective.
Add;
Squat
Dead-lift
Farmer's
Shurgs and curls and you have the ability to biuld a back as strong as an Ox.

Im not really talking about strength more just growing your back....Chin ups/bent over rows are my 2 fav exercises for back development...
 
Everyone should have both bent over rows and chin ups in there program at some point when doing a strength or bodybuilding style training program...
 
your prefering to pull ups right? palms facing away?

Considering the structure of the shoulder and how and where the lat inserts and attaches I reckon hands facing each other at about 700mm apart is the most productive and safe.
Then variations on that.
 
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After 20 years of poor back development despite reasonably heavy rows and deads at times, I got sick of blaming genetics and started my back training from scratch.

I now row light and strict with an ez curl bar and an overhand grip. By light I mean 50kgs and this has only increased by about 10kgs in 12 months. Without knowing it I have basically adopted the effort principle that Fadi has talked about on here. Make the movement difficult through concentration rather than going heavy. I made several other changes at the same time so my improvements can't be put down to rows but my back is improving so I'm happy.
 
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After 20 years of poor back development despite reasonably heavy rows and deads at times, I got sick of blaming genetics and started my back training from scratch.

I now row light and strict with an ez curl bar and an overhand grip. By light I mean 50kgs and this has only increased by about 10kgs in 12 months. Without knowing it I have basically adopted the effort principle that Fadi has talked about on here. Make the movement difficult through concentration rather than going heavy. I made several other changes at the same time so my improvements can't be put down to rows but my back is improving so I'm happy.

See Iam totally different...my back needs to be trained heavy all the time to get good back development...i.e heavy rows, pulldowns etc with low reps/sets....

I think back development is one of the hardest things to get and you really need to try a few diff methods to see what works best for you...
 
How do you do your BB rows?
That would ultimately depend on which part of your back you wish to target. Granted one can not super isolate one particular muscle amongst a group of muscles, however one should be able to throw more focus on one particular muscle and less focus on another by challenging it through body-positioning and barbell or dumbbell movement/path of travel. I'll give an example below to clarify what I'm talking about here.

Most often you see people in the gym (when I used to go to a gym), pulling the bar to their chest (for example), but when you ask them what muscle of their back are they really targeting, they answer you, "the lats of course mate, I want me some wings ya know!" well that will definitely happen, but it will take much longer to achieve since the muscles that are challenged here are the upper back muscles such as the teres major, rhomboids, infraspinatus, rear delts, mid-traps, and of course to a lesser degree the giant latissimus dorsi muscle amongst few others. Great if your aim was to challenge your upper back muscles, the ones that pop up when one does a double back biceps pose....and not the lat spread pose.

Another mistake I used to see when I used to go the gym was guys (who I knew could not lift big weights), lifting more than I was! Anyone can do it with bit of momentum mixed with bit of gravity defying magic. I'll explain.

You see the lifter with a 50kg d/bell positioned beside his waistline...now where do you think gravity would pull this 50kg dumbbell towards? If you said straight down toward the floor, you get no prizes sorry, because that's exactly how gravity works. But that's not what you see this lifters do. They let that d/bell swing out in front and away from their upper torso, and then pull it back in as if they were in some tug of war contest. Once that bar travels forward, you have shifted the stress from the lats to the front deltoids (and with 50kg, you're knocking on injuries doors)...all in the name of lifting "big bro"!

For maximum lats engagement, I keep the bar in constant contact with my thighs (as there really is no need for it to leave that position and go away from my body)...unless I wish to get a lower back injury that is....then I pull it towards my waist line rather than my sternum or lower chest muscles...in order to maximally isolate the lats, in addition to affording them maximum pulling power. At a 45 degree angle is all I need to get the job done...higher than that and the focus would start to shift towards my mid to upper trapezius muscles.

Forgot to mention...there is a great way if you feel the need to stretch out the lats whilst doing some rows (as our friends with their 50kg dumbbell above were aiming to do) and that way is achieved through not a barbell..., not a d/bell, but a cable. A cable has its gravity (pull) shifted from straight down toward the floor, to a place where this cable originates....usually in front of you rather than below you. Thanks for your time.
 
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