The upright row is a popular shoulder exercise and upper back exercise for building the delts and traps, however it just isn’t good. I know, some will have a problem with any single exercise being deemed “bad” but when it comes to the upright row, that has an alternative exercise that accomplishes the same thing but removes the troublesome parts of the movement in the process - I just think it has no place in workour programs.

Why do I have a problem?

When you do the upright row you are literally fighting your body’s own physiology and biomechanics. For instance, the act of elevating and internally rotating at the shoulder (as you do during the upright row) is something that places the shoulder joint at its biggest risk of impingement. It is in this position that the clearance for the humerus within the shoulder joint is at its smallest.

It is here that the likilhood of creating an impingement on the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff is at its highest.

Some will propose that bringing the bar to a point lower on the chest is a viable solution to this problem. While this helps it really doesn’t fix the problem entirely. Instead, you would want to perform something called the high pull, preferably with dumbbells.

The key difference between the high pull and the upright row is the positioning of the hands and elbows in relation to each other. During the upright row, the elbows travel higher than the hands. Leaving the hands at a point lower than the elbows is what torques the shoulder and creates internal rotation.

Instead, during the high pull, your focus should be on keeping the hands higher than the elbows. You want to think about leading your thumbs back behind you at the top of the rep to encourage external rotation of the shoulder and more joint space in the glenohumeral joint.

This will not sacrifice your ability to lift heavy weight on the exercise nor from targeting your upper traps and middle delts like you would on the upright row. You are simply performing a biomechanically safer exercise that is still a great shoulder builder, without the repercussions that are likely to come (either short term or long term) by continuing to do the upright row.

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Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).