Im not too sure how dangerous they are but over on t-nation they seem to be criticised alot and you dont often see them in many new programs out there but having said that they are a decent compound exercise and withstanding the olympic lift variations are one of only three compound shoulder movements (others being Push press an military press) so im sure theres no harm in doing them once in a while....
I hear they are harmful to the shoulders as well. Where did you hear they should be included in every shoulder routine? I don't even do them myself. anymore. I used to, but when I heard they are harmful to the shoulders, I stopped doing them. I am a person that believes just about everything I read because I don't ever want to get injured.
There's almost no better way to hit your traps. However, the upright row can facilitate impingement of the rotator cuff, specifically the supraspinatus.
If you want to use the upright row in your workout, it's best to maintain a wide-grip on the barbell or E-Z curl bar. Even better, do a one-arm dumbbell row and concentrate on keeping your elbow pointed out to the side, instead of angling as one can tend to do.
Learned all this from a physio, following recovery from a torn R.C.
There's almost no better way to hit your traps. However, the upright row can facilitate impingement of the rotator cuff, specifically the supraspinatus.
If you want to use the upright row in your workout, it's best to maintain a wide-grip on the barbell or E-Z curl bar. Even better, do a one-arm dumbbell row and concentrate on keeping your elbow pointed out to the side, instead of angling as one can tend to do.
What about high-pulls? They seem virtually identical to upright rows, with the exception of using a bit of jump to help move the bar up.
when i say lats i mean lattismus dorsi not lateral delts.....are you sure it primarily hits the lateral delts? They traditionally get worked with side raises
high pulls you are using mostly momentum from the bottom to bring the weight up. yes, you are holding onto the the weight so you will get some hypertrophy in the traps/shoulders from them.. but nothing like an upright row. Also, in a high pull you are not holding the weight up top, you are just getting it there.
If your going to do them, do them wide grip and dont bring the bar higher then when your elbows are perp. to to ground..
that being said.. what are your trying to accompligh with them? deadlifts/rack deads are probally the best way to hit your upper traps. I also like barbell shrugs at times, but some people are against these because 90% of people do them shitty.
high pulls you are using mostly momentum from the bottom to bring the weight up. yes, you are holding onto the the weight so you will get some hypertrophy in the traps/shoulders from them.. but nothing like an upright row. Also, in a high pull you are not holding the weight up top, you are just getting it there.
If your going to do them, do them wide grip and dont bring the bar higher then when your elbows are perp. to to ground..
that being said.. what are your trying to accompligh with them? deadlifts/rack deads are probally the best way to hit your upper traps. I also like barbell shrugs at times, but some people are against these because 90% of people do them shitty.
I must be in that 90%. I never feel like I'm doing shrugs correctly.
but, people often use way to much weight, and a very short rom as well as using the whole body to move the weight, then after a few years, complain of neck pain, i wonder why..
Trick is to stay very upright, and actually use your traps which can actually be hard for some.
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I don't like shrugs either. I blame shrugs for my tight upper trapz and also the upright row and I used to use heavy weight with them too (20 pounds for shrugs and like 10 for upright row I think and 8-10 pounds for lateral/front/bent over raises) before I started going to message boards and learning about weightraining. I know better now than I did before. I still consider myself a weightraining beginner, but I think I am getting better and starting to actually trust myself now.
Monday I will be back in the fitness center at school at my JC (spring semester starts), so I will be trying some Face Pulls trying to get the lower trapz stronger than the upper. Hopefully it helps loosens up the upper trapz a long with TYLW. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think upper trapz tightness is caused by weak lower trapz and too much shrugging and lateral deltoid stuff.
I can't do them with weights, but for some reason they don't bother my shoulders at all when I use light bands. I have had four shoulder surgeries, and I am accutely aware of what I can and cannot do without pain, and they don't seem to bother my shoulders, whereas overhead pressing and heavy bench pressing does aggravate them.
Upright rows have a higher risk to benefit ratio than many other shoulder exercises. If you have any shoulder problems, then they would be contraindicated. After listening to Bill Hartman talk, I don't use them anymore in the programs I write. You can read Bill Hartman's comments in this thread.
I think flashy hit the basic point the best here. Just widen the grip. If your grip is outside of your torso it is unlikely you will impinge the shoulder joints. In fact it is unlikley you will be able to raise the weight above chest level if that.
High pulls cause would cause hypertrophy side effect most likely because of the deadlift portion and not when the weight is up in the air and "weightless".
Good points
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Interesting article. I was doing close grip upright rows, and I was having some discomfort in the upper body, which I had just been thinking of as some muscle tenderness from the intense workouts. This morning I did not do the rows and I plan not to for a while; if the pain goes away I guess I know the answer. Thanks for starting this thread!
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I'm not a fan ... but then again, I see many people with overactive upper traps and inactive lower traps. I would rather have my people doing lower trap activation/recruitment stuff (face pulls, TYWLs, etc) and get upper trap work in doing deadlifts (as Frank stated). JMO.
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I agree with Julie because I used to do some upright rows and a lot of shrugs and now I have overactive upper traps and inactive lower traps. My upper traps are really tight. I am working on T's and Y's right now to get rid of my upper trap tightness. By the way, I never do shrugs at the end of deadlifts. When I do deadlifts, I just do the deadlift and thats it. My shrugging used to be just with dumbbells alone and the highest I have ever gone was 20 lbs.
Ok, I am a little confused here. I always thought that if you do the upright rows with dumbells you largely eliminated the problems with the movement. This is not correct?
Upright Rows. Safe?
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