2 Tips To Fix Your Upright Row With Barbell Form
How To Make One Of The Best Shoulder Exercises Pain-Free
On today’s episode fo Live Lean TV, I’m taking you to the gym to show you 2 tips to fix your upright row with barbell form.
The upright row is one of the best shoulder exercises, for men and women, to get lean and sculpted “Hollywood” shoulders.
If you’ve never heard or tried the upright row, I’m going to show you how to do perform it, pain-free.
But first.
Unfortunately when I recommend the barbell upright row exercise to people, they often complain about shoulder or wrist pain.
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This can occur when the exercise is performed incorrectly.
Does this mean the upright row with barbell sucks?
Um, no.
It really is one of the best shoulder exercises, if you perform it right, based on your body’s anatomical structure.
If you’ve tried the upright row with barbell and experienced pain, I’ll be showing you 2 tips to fix your form.
Plus, I’m going to show you a safe exercise modification to add to your next workout routine.
This way you can build the shoulders you desire, without the pain.
But, before we move on to the exercise tips, I want you to do me one favor.
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With that said, it’s time to get into the gym.
Again, one of the best exercises to get those sexy, lean, and sculpted shoulders is the upright row.
But here’s the thing.
The barbell upright row is great for your shoulders, but when performed incorrectly, it can cause shoulder and wrist pain due to certain anatomical situations with your body.
2 Tips To Fix Your Form With The Upright Row With Barbell:
Tip #1: Use an EZ Bar Rather Than A Regular Straight Barbell
If you have wrist pain, complete the EZ bar upright row.
Using an EZ bar will make it easier on your joints and allow for pain-free movement of the weight.
Most gyms have them, but if you workout from home, here’s a good quality EZ bar on Amazon.
Hand placement is very important as well.
Be sure to grip the EZ bar where you would normally grip it while doing a bicep curl.
This means your index finger should be just on the outside of the lateral side of your thigh.
That’s the proper grip placement that will target your shoulders more than your elbow flexors.
When you hold the EZ bar with a narrower grip, you place more stress on the elbow flexors.
Tip #2: Do Not Lift The Bar Higher Than Clavicle Height
The second form tip while performing the barbell upright row is to not raise the barbell above clavicle height.
When you raise the barbell higher than your clavicle, it can put you at a higher risk of causing shoulder impingement.
Of course, creating an impingement in your shoulder is not an injury that you want to risk.
Follow these 2 simple form tips to help alleviate wrist and shoulder pain while doing an upright row with barbell.
Upright Row With Barbell Alternative Exercise: Cable Upright Row
A good exercise alternative to the barbell upright row is the cable upright row.
This movement allows you to move the weight more freely, thus making it easier on your joints, and causing less pain in your shoulders.
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Here’s how to perform the cable upright row:
- Attach the rope, with the bulky ends, to a low pulley cable machine.
- Stand up straight and with a pronated, palms down grip, pull up and spread the rope towards your neck.
- As you pull the weight up, keep the rope close to your body.
That wraps up another post
Give these tips and modifications a try to take advantage of one of the best shoulder exercises to get you “Hollywood” shoulders.
Thank you once again for joining me.
Here’s another video post where I share 1 tip to get bigger and stronger muscles, that a lot of men and women do wrong.
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Question For You:
- Can you perform the barbell upright row without pain?
- Do you incorporate the barbell upright row into your workout program?
- What are some of your best shoulder exercises?
Be sure to share your answers in the comment section below.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
yes they do help build up the traps
What about doing shoulder shrugs? Do they help?
Thanks for the tips !!! I would like to give a start to myself.
Hi Brda. Itsme again. Any advice for the lower abs exercise? I am seeing results on my upper abs but my lower are still not. What exercise will maximize the lower abs considering i have taken your meal plans?
Also, im planning to take amino acids supplement. When is the best time to take it and how may capsule should i take? Hoping for your usual response. Thanks in advance brad.
Do you have a professional photog to take all your YouTube video screen grabs?! lol… You look so “sensual” in this one! AHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA! What’s so sexy that’s on the floor??
LOL – that photo makes me look like i’m doing “something” alright! it’s a bad photo from a shoot i did 3 years ago but i just had to use it!
that’s interesting you suggest using that curved bar.. i’ve never heard that before and i usually do use a straight bar. regarding the upright row, i recently read somewhere that if you move your grip in about an inch on both sides, it activates the biceps (i think?) a bit more? thoughts?
Since this exercise is about elbow flexion the biceps are pulled in (and do get worked more the closer your bring your grip)…but doing this also works the traps more than the shoulders. So if your goal is to train shoulders, keep the grip placement, wider, just outside your thighs.
Love upright rows! Thanks for the tips . . . gotta keep my arms and shoulders A-list!
Thanks for these tips. I was just looking at tweaking my shoulder routine.
@rui27marne veggies are my main source of carbs on most days. Recently i’ve been testing a new form of carb cycling 6 days of just protein, fat, and veggies (with a high glycemic carb source post workout) and 1 day high carb (cheat day). I’ve been liking it so far.
@linadelray focus more of your shoulder workouts on lateral, bent over lateral, and front raises and try reducing pressing moves and shrugs. she if that helps.
Blonde doesn’t give you a better look. Leave it natty.
Hi Brad I watch all your videos and follow your advice!
I need your help! I am a girl , I want broad shoulders (you know, the cupped round deltoids).. I donno what I’m doing wrong but my traps seem to be growing faster than my shoulders which bothers me (big traps are ugly on girls)
Thanx!