Tips For Performing Upright Rows

For those of you who really want to build up strong shoulder muscles and add more bulk to the upper body, upright rows can prove to be a powerful way to go about doing this.

Upright rows are primarily a shoulder focused exercise and can be a great addition to a well-rounded upper body workout routine.

It’s important to take care when performing upright rows however as some people will start to experience shoulder pain when doing them as they will place quite a high degree of stress and tension on the shoulder joint.

That said, let’s go over some of the top tips to remember when you’re performing your upright rows that will help keep you injury free and feeling your best.

1) Keep The Head Facing Forward

The first quick tip to remember when performing upright rows is that you want to keep the head facing directly forwards, looking right in front of you.

Avoid looking down or up as this will instantly create some unnecessary stress on the neck muscles and ligament and could lead to serious pain over time.

By keeping the head facing forward you’ll keep the spinal column in proper alignment and ensure you are able to execute your upright rows with the most amount of power and strength possible.

2) Breathe Properly

Next, the second thing that you want to do while performing upright rows is make sure that you are breathing properly. Avoid holding your breath as you move through the exercise as that will cause a build-up of pressure in the body.

You should be aiming to breathe out while you’re lowering the weight downwards and then breathe in while you’re raising it upwards towards the shoulder area.

Keep the breathing pattern slow and steady to mirror the action pattern that you’re using.

3) Don’t Lift Too High

The next important thing to remember as you perform upright rows is that you should never be lifting a weight too high.

If you try and hoist the weight higher than shoulder level, you are not going to work the muscles more, but rather place more stress on the shoulder joint.

Instead, you should lift the weight up so that it reaches shoulder level, pause in that position, and then lower back down from there.

You’re going to see much better results using a suitable weight for your strength level and performing it exactly as you should be than trying to use a much heavier weight and sacrificing on form.

Proper form is a must with any shoulder exercise as shoulder exercises can be quick to develop.

4) Keep The Hands Close To The Body

Finally, the last thing to note as you perform upright rows is to make sure that you’re keeping the hands as close into the body as possible.

Again, this will help ensure that you are using correct form and that there is no excess stress on the elbow joints.

If you are moving the weight too far away from the body, it may also cause you to adopt a forward lean, which would then place significant stain on the lower back.

So there you have the quick tips to remember about performing upright rows. Keep these in mind and you can be sure to reap all the major benefits that this exercise has to offer.