Upright Row: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Benefits

The upright row is a vertical pull where you lift a bar, dumbbells or a cable straight up the front of your body to around chest height, leading with your elbows. It is a genuinely effective way to build the side and rear shoulders and the upper traps at the same time, which is why it has been a bodybuilding staple for decades. It also has a reputation as a shoulder-wrecker, and that reputation is half deserved: done badly it can pinch the shoulder, but done with a sensible grip and a limited range it is a useful and safe lift for most people. Here is how to do it right, what it works, and when to pick something else.

How to do an upright row

You can use a barbell, an EZ bar, dumbbells or a cable. Dumbbells and cables tend to be gentler on the shoulders, so start there if you are new to the move.

1. Set your grip. Hold the bar with an overhand grip, hands roughly shoulder-width apart or a touch wider. A wider grip is friendlier to the shoulder than a narrow one. With dumbbells, hold one in each hand in front of your thighs.
2. Stand tall. Feet hip-width apart, knees soft, chest up, shoulders back. Let the weight hang at arm's length against the front of your thighs.
3. Lead with the elbows. Pull the weight straight up the front of your body by driving your elbows up and out to the sides. Think of your elbows as the part doing the lifting, not your hands.
4. Stop at shoulder height. Raise until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor and your elbows reach shoulder height. The bar will be around chest or lower-collarbone level. Do not pull higher than this.
5. Lower under control. Bring the weight back down slowly to the start, keeping tension in the shoulders, and reset for the next rep.

Muscles worked

The upright row is a compound shoulder pull that hits the delts and the upper back together.

• Lateral (side) deltoids. The side of the shoulder is a main mover, especially with a wider grip. This is what gives the shoulders their capped, rounded look.
• Posterior (rear) deltoids. The back of the shoulder assists as your elbows travel up and back, an area most people under-train.
• Upper trapezius. The muscle from your neck to the top of your shoulders works hard to shrug and rotate the shoulder blades upward, particularly with a narrower grip.
• Other scapular muscles. The middle traps, rhombids and levator scapulae help draw the shoulder blades up and together.
• Biceps and forearms. Your arms flex to raise the weight and your grip holds the bar, so both get some work as secondary movers.

Because it drives the upper arm upward and inward, the upright row is one of the moves most often flagged for people prone to shoulder impingement, where overactive upper trapezius and altered shoulder mechanics play a role (systematic review of shoulder muscle activity in subacromial impingement). A wider grip and a shorter range go a long way to keeping it comfortable.

Benefits

• Two muscle groups in one move. Few exercises build the side delts and the upper traps together as directly as the upright row does, which makes it time-efficient on a shoulder or pull day.
• Builds shoulder width and a fuller upper back. Developed side delts and upper traps are what create a broad, athletic look from the front and back.
• Easy to load and progress. With a barbell or cable you can add weight steadily, and the movement is simple to learn compared with an overhead press.
• Flexible kit. Barbell, EZ bar, dumbbells, kettlebells or cable all work, so you can train it at home or in the gym. The NHS recommends strengthening all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week, and the shoulders and upper back are easy ones to neglect.
• Carryover to other lifts. A strong upper-back pull supports your deadlifts, cleans and overhead work.

Common mistakes

Pulling too high. Yanking the bar all the way to the chin forces the shoulder into internal rotation at the top and is the classic cause of impingement pain. Stop at shoulder height.

Grip too narrow. A very close grip pins your elbows in and drives the joint into the pinch position. Go shoulder-width or wider, which spreads the work to the delts and eases the shoulder.

Using momentum. Heaving the weight up with a hip and knee bounce turns it into a swing rather than a shoulder exercise. Keep your torso still and let the elbows do the lifting.

Leading with the hands. If your wrists curl up and your hands rise before your elbows, you turn it into an awkward curl. Drive the elbows up first and keep them above the hands throughout.

Going too heavy. This is not a lift to test your ego on. Excess weight forces every one of the mistakes above. Pick a load you can control for 10 to 15 clean reps.

Upright row alternatives

If the upright row bothers your shoulders, or you just want variety, these cover the same muscles with less strain.

• Lateral raises. The gold-standard side-delt builder, with none of the impingement risk. See our lateral raises guide.
• Face pulls. Brilliant for the rear delts and upper back, and a favourite of physios for shoulder health. See our face pulls guide.
• Shrugs. Target the upper traps directly and comfortably. See our shrugs guide.
• Wide-grip cable upright row. Using a wide grip on a cable machine gives smooth tension and lets you keep the elbows lower, which many people tolerate far better than a barbell.
• High pull. A more explosive, wider-grip cousin that keeps the elbows out and tends to be shoulder-friendly.

Sets and reps

The upright row is best trained with control and moderate weight rather than heavy singles:

• Shoulders and traps: 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps, resting 60 to 90 seconds.
• Accessory or superset: 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 paired with lateral raises or face pulls.
• Learning the move: 3 sets of 12 light reps with dumbbells, focusing only on leading with the elbows and stopping at shoulder height.

Only add weight once your form holds up for every rep. If it ever pinches, widen your grip, lower the range, or swap to lateral raises and face pulls, which give you most of the benefit with none of the risk.

Recommended reads

1. Lateral raises: how to do them and muscles worked
2. Face pulls: how to do them and muscles worked
3. Shrugs: how to do them and muscles worked
4. Overhead press guide
5. The best cable machine in the UK