Not many gyms have dumbbells much heavier than 100 pounds. On the other side of the coin there are some gyms with dumbbells as high as 200 pounds (though you rarely see anyone wrestle with them).
This is really not a problem. The one arm dumbbell row is a nice and very effective exercise but there are drawbacks to this movement. First and foremost, it's a "one arm" movement. This doubles the time it takes to do one set. It also just about doubles the energy expenditure required over two arm movements. Because of this, the efficiency of this movement sucks, to put it bluntly. And an important component in Max-OT training is efficiency.
The muscle groups making up the back are very large and strong muscles. Compound movements are far more effective and efficient for developing a big, wide and strong upper back.
My suggestion is that if you are using good form with 100 pound dumbbell rows and you can get 10 reps it's time to move on. Concentrate your efforts on compound movements that will allow you to implement the Max-OT overload protocol of 4 to 6 reps. There are many very good exercises that will allow this.
Excellent compound movements are:
- Bent Over Barbell Rows
- Cable Rows
- T-Bar Rows
- Close Grip Pull Downs with a V-Bar
These exercises will allow you to use maximum overload to stimulate maximum muscle growth and they are much more efficient in doing so.
