Want a challenging movement targeting your upper back and grip strength in one? Then look no further than the inverted row hold.

The exercise, devised by Joe DeFranco – an American trainer who has worked with NFL and MLB players, WWE superstars, UFC fighters and Olympic athletes – is a twist on a regular inverted row. He has made it more challenging by elevating the feet and requiring the position to be held for as long as possible. ‘Warning: way harder than it looks,’ DeFranco says.

Holding your suspended bodyweight for an extended period of time will develop better grip and build a stronger upper back, helping to improve posture in the process. But, while it’s a movement that primarily targets those muscles, it’ll provide an almighty challenge for other areas of your body, too.

Maintaining a strong position in the inverted row hold requires full-body tension, calling the glutes and core into action. And, with a block placed on your chest, you are more accountable for staying as tight as you can to the bar. Research has shown that isometric holds can prove just as effective at building muscle as full reps, with the increased time under tension stressing your physique even more.

‘This lights up your entire posterior chain, especially your postural muscles – and your grip – fast,’ DeFranco says.

• Start with a bar placed in a rack or Smith machine, lying on your back underneath. Adjust the bar to a height just above your reach with your arms extended.
• Reach up and grab the bar with an overhand grip, with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Put your heels on a bench out in front of you while holding a yoga block on your chest – if that’s too difficult, scale the movement by moving the bench closer and placing your ankles or calves on the bench.
• Pull yourself up off the floor until the block touches the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes to create full-body tension. You should be able to draw a straight line from your shoulders to heels, through your hips and knees.
• Hold that position for as long as possible, actively pulling the bar into the block the entire time. Once the yoga block loses contact with the bar, you’re done.

DeFranco lists four different standards for men when it comes to the inverted row hold. The stronger your grip and upper back get, the longer you’ll be able to hold onto the bar.

• Good: 20-30 secs
• Great: 31-44 secs
• Strong: 45-59 secs
• ‘Superfreak’: 60+ secs