Dumbbell Upright Row

The 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 middle and front heads work approximately equally hard. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that this exercise is aimed at the rear head. Most other shoulder exercises activate the front and middle heads to a much greater extent than the rear head.

There are, of course, assisting muscles as well. The (upper part of the) trapezius and the levator scapulae help elevate the shoulder blades. The biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis help flex the arm.

In this variation, the exercise is performed with dumbbells.

Dumbbell upright row execution

Stand with the dumbbells in your hands. Keep the arms beside the body and the thumbs pointing inward (palms facing backward, a 'pronated grip').

Raise the elbows outward and upward as far as you can. The hands remain at the sides of your body and directly below the elbows (not turned inward).

Lower the hands back to the starting position in a controlled manner

Dumbbell upright row technique

You can partly determine the involvement of the trapezius (and levator scapulae) yourself. Their function is to elevate the shoulder blades themselves, 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.

Hand position:

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 rotated inward.

This often occurs when performing the exercise with a barbell held with too narrow a grip. With this narrow grip, the shoulders are not only rotated inward, but it is also possible to raise the elbows above shoulder level. A high risk, therefore.

By gripping the barbell at shoulder width or, better yet, wider, the shoulders are rotated outward and it is impossible to raise the elbows too high.

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

The same principle applies when performing the exercise with dumbbells. Therefore, keep the hands beside, not in front of, the body at the beginning of the exercise. They consequently start at shoulder level and remain below the elbows at all times.

At a glance