Barbell Upright Row

The barbell upright row is an exercise targeting all heads of the deltoid (shoulder muscle). Although it is primarily performed for the rear head of the shoulder, studies show that the lateral and anterior heads work about equally hard as well. Nevertheless, it is not strange to focus this exercise on the rear head. Most other shoulder exercises activate the anterior and lateral heads to a much greater extent than the rear head.

Naturally, other assisting muscles are involved as well. The (upper part of the) trapezius and the levator scapulae assist in elevating the shoulder blades. The biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis assist in flexing the arm.

Barbell upright row execution

Raise your elbows to just below shoulder height.

Lower the bar back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

Barbell upright row setup

Load the appropriate weight plates onto a barbell and secure them with collars.
Grip the barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, palms facing backward (a pronated grip).
Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart.

Barbell upright row technique

You can partly determine the involvement of the trapezius (and levator scapulae) yourself. Their function is to elevate the shoulder blades. Just as when you shrug your shoulders ‘when you have no idea’. The deltoid itself is only involved in raising the upper arm.

Therefore, focus on keeping the shoulders themselves down if you want to isolate the deltoids as much as possible.

Barbell in front of or behind the body?

The exercise can be performed with the barbell in front of the body (barbell upright row) or behind the body (barbell rear delt raise).

Holding the bar behind the back shifts the emphasis from the deltoid toward the lateral and rear heads. For the trapezius, it must pull the shoulder blades straight upward, which primarily engages the upper trapezius.

Holding the bar in front of the body distributes the emphasis of the deltoid more evenly across all three heads. For the trapezius, it must pull the shoulder blades upward as well as backward. This gives the middle and lower trapezius a greater role.

How wide should the hands be placed?

The upright row (with the barbell in front of the body) has often been associated with shoulder injuries. However, this risk can be reduced or even prevented.

Many shoulder injuries are caused by impingement of the shoulder joint. The likelihood is high when the upper arms are raised toward or above shoulder level and internally rotated.

Gripping the barbell narrowly not only internally rotates the shoulders, but also makes it possible to raise the elbows above shoulder level. A high risk, therefore.

Gripping the bar at shoulder width or, even better, wider externally rotates the shoulders and makes it impossible to raise the elbows too high.

A nice additional benefit is that the muscles themselves (deltoids and trapezius) appear to show greater activity with the wider grip. More effective and safer, therefore. You can find more information here.

With the behind-the-back position, the shoulders are automatically externally rotated and the elbows cannot be lifted too high. How narrowly or widely the hands are placed should therefore matter less.

At a glance