Post: #1

Hope this hasn't been asked before (a quick search didn't turn up anything).

I keep seeing references to upright rows being a dangerous exercise. However, I did a lot of them when doing Beachbody's Body Beast program and they didn't seem to cause problems. I do have a bit of a problem with pain in my left elbow, but I attribute that to pull-ups because it's gotten a lot better since I stopped doing pull-ups.

Some of the fitness and weight training sites I've checked out seem to suggest that upright rows are mainly a problem if you do them with a straight bar. In Body Beast, you do them with an EZ bar (I think that's the standard name, but I attached a picture below just in case). Any opinions on this? Are they reasonably safe if I do them with this kind of bar?

Post: #2

The curvature of the EZ bar sites your hands too far apart to get the full benefit of the movement. Upright rows are good for building strength and upper body mass but it can lead to shoulder impingement and elbow and rist issues. That said, tons of dudes have done them for years and are fine.

Post: #3

*Raises hand* Upright rows didnt cause my impingements (both shoulders), but as a result I can't do them. I can do seated cable rows if I keep my hands lower relative to my torso.

Post: #4

Personally, I feel instability in the shoulders when I do this move so I just avoid it, which sucks cause it hits the lateral head like no other.

Post: #5

Personally I don't do them - have had shoulder discomfort from them before.

Jeff Cavaliere suggests trading the barbell for the dumbbell.

Post: #6

I love upright rows, but I often notice that guys are doing them far too heavy for their size. I have pretty decent shoulders and delts, and I really don't go heavy on shoulder exercises. It's a teeny, tiny muscle group that you don't wanna destroy.

Even guys like Dimitry Klokov don't go all that heavy when you consider how strong guys like him are. Gotta train shoulders with the eye towards sustainability and joint-health.

Also, if you're getting pain from Chin ups and stuff, I'd suggest getting some rings and doing them that way. Your wrists aren't designed to be locked and unable to twist when executing those pulling motions for your chins/pull ups.

Not to mention, doing rings will help you develop the muscles more effectively since you twist as you pull up. Gives you a nice forearm workout.

Post: #7

@Ringo

I traded the ezbar for the dumbell and haven't looked back. I would argue that the dumbell is far superior as there is more freedom of movement and it is easier to have your muscles under constant tension. I never even had problems with wrist pain with the ezbar, yet I can feel the burn much more with dumbells.

Post: #8

(07-05-2017 03:34 PM)Repo Wrote:  @Ringo

I traded the ezbar for the dumbell and haven't looked back. I would argue that the dumbell is far superior as there is more freedom of movement and it is easier to have your muscles under constant tension. I never even had problems with wrist pain with the ezbar, yet I can feel the burn much more with dumbells.

I like the idea of dumbbells instead of the EZ bar, especially if you get more burn. I work out at home and use PowerBlocks for everything above 20 lbs, so I'll have to see if they work for upright rows.

I appreciate all the comments. What I'm getting out of them is that some guys have problems with upright rows but that if I've been doing them off and on for years and haven't, I'll probably continue to be fine.

Post: #9

(07-05-2017 02:09 PM)Fortis Wrote:  I love upright rows, but I often notice that guys are doing them far too heavy for their size. I have pretty decent shoulders and delts, and I really don't go heavy on shoulder exercises. It's a teeny, tiny muscle group that you don't wanna destroy.

Even guys like Dimitry Klokov don't go all that heavy when you consider how strong guys like him are. Gotta train shoulders with the eye towards sustainability and joint-health.

Also, if you're getting pain from Chin ups and stuff, I'd suggest getting some rings and doing them that way. Your wrists aren't designed to be locked and unable to twist when executing those pulling motions for your chins/pull ups.

Not to mention, doing rings will help you develop the muscles more effectively since you twist as you pull up. Gives you a nice forearm workout.

I like the idea of rings, but I don't work out in a gym and can't imagine how I could set them up at home.

About not going heavy on upright rows, I thought on pretty much any lift you were supposed to go to failure and once you can finish all your planned sets with good form, add more weight. Is that not the case? I'm interested in hearing other guys' opinions about that.

Post: #10

(07-05-2017 11:28 PM)bucky Wrote:  

(07-05-2017 02:09 PM)Fortis Wrote:  I love upright rows, but I often notice that guys are doing them far too heavy for their size. I have pretty decent shoulders and delts, and I really don't go heavy on shoulder exercises. It's a teeny, tiny muscle group that you don't wanna destroy.

Even guys like Dimitry Klokov don't go all that heavy when you consider how strong guys like him are. Gotta train shoulders with the eye towards sustainability and joint-health.

Also, if you're getting pain from Chin ups and stuff, I'd suggest getting some rings and doing them that way. Your wrists aren't designed to be locked and unable to twist when executing those pulling motions for your chins/pull ups.

Not to mention, doing rings will help you develop the muscles more effectively since you twist as you pull up. Gives you a nice forearm workout.

I like the idea of rings, but I don't work out in a gym and can't imagine how I could set them up at home.

About not going heavy on upright rows, I thought on pretty much any lift you were supposed to go to failure and once you can finish all your planned sets with good form, add more weight. Is that not the case? I'm interested in hearing other guys' opinions about that.

I don't often go to failure on exercises, but I know some guys do. Typically, at the end of an exercise, I'll do a static hold. So I'll hold at the top of the upright row and really really squeeze the muscles.

As a rule, I don't like exhaustion-style training since I fatigue more easily than others, but perhaps it works for some.

Post: #11

This video here explain pretty clearly why you shouldn't do upright rows with any type of barbell:

Post: #12

My opinion is you should stop doing the exercise altogether, but then I'm not into bodybuilding at all.

Post: #13

There are safer ways to hit those muscles without the risk of long-term impingement issues as good 'ole Jeff-o explains in the videos above.

Post: #14

This might sound dumb but do you even need to do isolation shoulder exercises if you're just looking to build overall strength? Won't bench presses, dips, push-ups etc. hit those same groups anyway?

Post: #15

^^^

Upright rows are compound exercises too. They go very well together with overhead presses.


For me they are almost as important as primary movements such as squats and weighted pullups.

If you have healthy shoulder mobility, you will be very far away from an impingement position (assuming you do it correctly). If I go to nipple height, I'm still 30 cm or so bellow the point at which my elbows start to impinge. Going higher than nipple height doesn't seem to give me any benefit.



I don't get the dumbell stuff.. The dumbell technique (externally rotated, arms higher) is what I've always done with a barbell anyways. It looks like the dumbells always follow a straight path in front of his body, so whatever he does with dumbells he could do with a barbell?

I will give it a try during my next workout though, you never know.

Post: #16

Don't do upright rows with an EZ bar, it locked your arms and shoulders into a static and a bit unnatural position. Your shoulders and arms want to rotate and move outward slightly when your do an upright row. Try doing the upright row with a rope on a cable machine and you'll feel the difference of easy and comfort

Post: #17

Surely, you'll find one study saying one thing, and another study that says something else. As far as this move goes, I've read predominantly negative press regarding it, so I've stopped doing 'em, and, as noted above, there are other moves one can do in order to work those areas.

Post: #18

What ?! EZ bar upright rows are wrong ?

DGAF ! It make my traps Huge !!!!

Post: #19

^ I'm just gonna leave this here:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/features...y-too-far/

Post: #20

The real question is why do an upright row when there are better exercises?

Not counting the impingement issues, it just doesn't do that great of a job on shoulders, biceps or traps.

Post: #21

Eh I don't think it's that great of an exercise and probably isn't the best for your shoulders but if you do them and nothing is hurting I doubt it's doing much harm. If that's the case and you really like upright rows, then keep doing them but I would just be aware of the potential risks and don't go too heavy.

I love dips but recently they've been hurting my shoulders a bit so I stopped doing them. The last thing I want is a shoulder injury since that essentially ruins your ability to lift weights perhaps more than any other joint injury.

I did use to do a lot of upright rows in high school because they always felt like they gave me a really good pump and they did seem to build my shoulders a decent amount so I get where you're coming from.

Post: #22

Swap upright rows for high pulls. Absolutely blast the traps, best trap exercise IMO, and much healthier for shoulders:
https://www.t-nation.com/training/high-p...power-look

And dumbell lateral raises for side delts rock too.

Post: #23

(07-07-2017 10:48 AM)Stallion Wrote:  ^^^

Upright rows are compound exercises too. They go very well together with overhead presses.


For me they are almost as important as primary movements such as squats and weighted pullups.

If you have healthy shoulder mobility, you will be very far away from an impingement position (assuming you do it correctly). If I go to nipple height, I'm still 30 cm or so bellow the point at which my elbows start to impinge. Going higher than nipple height doesn't seem to give me any benefit.



I don't get the dumbell stuff.. The dumbell technique (externally rotated, arms higher) is what I've always done with a barbell anyways. It looks like the dumbells always follow a straight path in front of his body, so whatever he does with dumbells he could do with a barbell?

I will give it a try during my next workout though, you never know.

IMO upright rows, EZ bar or not, are good, and so are overhead presses. However, the risk of injury is too great for me to continue with them. Do them if you must, because they do work and work well, but know that you should set aside some money to pay your orthopedist/PT/chiropractor when you mess up your spine or shoulders.

Post: #24

I've never done them. Seemed like a weird way to do a row to me. I got plenty of trap and delt results from my barbell shoulder presses and just benching. Enough to where I had people pointing out my traps and neck. Sometimes I did lateral raises too but I prefer to save energy for my compound movements. Shoulders are a small muscle group. Never used the EZ bar for anything other than bicep curls either, seems like a really weird angle for my hands and wrists to be while moving heavy weight on compound movements. Unless you're a more advanced lifter it's probably better to focus on the core compound movements then extra exercises like this. Plus the shoulder press is a pushing movement, how many of those do you do besides a chest press movement? You've already got bent over row and deadlift for pulling.

Post: #25

Dumbbells, stop with the weight at nipple height and upper arms parallel to the floor. That is the real answer to doing upright rows.