Are Upright Rows Bad for Shoulders? How to Build Bigger Delts Without Injury
The upright row, depending on your perspective, is either the best exercise for your delts and traps or a flat-out shoulder wrecker. It’s an exercise with a bad-boy reputation. People base its reputation on the standard barbell version , where lifters raise their elbows high above shoulder level and internally rotate the shoulders. This position increases the risk of subacromial impingement, the painful compression, irritation, or rubbing of the rotator cuff tendons and bursa within the shoulder joint. But that’s only part of the story, because the arguments focus on the barbell version of it: too much height, too narrow a grip, and not enough control. That matters because research doesn’t support scrapping the upright row. The real issue isn’t good vs. bad—it’s whether we’re judging this lift fairly. Here, with the help of a few of my coaching friends, we’ll explore one of the more misunderstood lifts in the weight room. How the Upright Row Earned Its Reputation When the elbows ...
