What is an upright row?
Upright rows are a shoulder exercise that can be done with a barbell, z bar or dumbbells. It is done with your arms in-front and you pull the bar up vertically to about neck height. This exercise targets your anterior delts (the front of your shoulders).
Why are upright rows bad?
The exercise places your shoulder in a state of internal rotation while under load.
When you lift your arm up vertically, your upper arm internally rotates the shoulder. This may not be a huge problem for individuals with a perfect shoulder joint. But this situation is very rare.
Upright rows causes you to load your shoulders while they are internally rotated. This is a problem because it decreases space in your glenohumeral joint and compromises structures such as your bicep tendon and rotator cuff muscles.
Upright rows may cause you to feel pinching in your shoulder or they can aggravate existing shoulder issues further. If you feel any pain in your shoulders we would greatly recommend to drop this exercise.
The front of your shoulders are typically over-trained.
Most athletes and individuals tend to over-train or have overdeveloped anterior delts.
A lot of pressing exercises, such as bench press, overhead press and push-ups, already target your anterior delts. Furthermore, most individuals spend a lot of time in-front of a screen, sitting or using their cell-phone. These actions constantly put your shoulders into internal rotation making your anterior delts and pecs very tight opposed to your posterior delts. Adding upright rows to your workouts will just further facilitate this problem.
Balance out your upper body workouts with bent over rows!
Please note: we are not saying to never ever do this exercise, but it’s important to understand the risks and assess if this is something that will truly benefit you.
Looking for ways to fix your shoulder pain? Check out this article Learn How To Fix Shoulder Pain.
