A Good Shoulder Workout for the Upright Row

Your shoulders are complicated joints that perform many important athletic tasks, including throwing or swinging a tennis racket, golf club or baseball bat. Each shoulder contains three main muscles -- the deltoid group -- plus smaller muscles that are part of the rotator cuff. A good shoulder workout, therefore, must hit a variety of muscles. The upright row targets the lateral deltoid in the middle of each shoulder.

  1. Upright Row Form

    • You can perform upright rows with a variety of tools. To do the exercise with a barbell, stand straight and hold the bar with an overhand grip. Let your arms hang naturally in front of you and spread your hands about shoulder-width apart. Keep your legs and torso still as you pull the bar straight up until it reaches your chin and then lower it slowly to the starting position. Keep the bar close to your body at all times. When you raise the bar, flare your elbows so they point away from your sides. Your wrists begin in a neutral position but you must flex them as the bar rises.

    Targeted Muscles

    • Although upright rows target the lateral deltoid, this is not an isolation exercise. The activity works a variety of shoulder, back and upper-arm muscles. The upright row is a particularly good exercise in any shoulder workout because it also works the anterior deltoid in front of each shoulder, plus the supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor, all of which are part of the rotator cuff.

    Shoulder Workout Program

    • A good shoulder workout should include one exercise targeting each of the three deltoid muscles. Because upright rows target the lateral deltoid, complement them with an anterior deltoid exercise -- such as a shoulder press or front raise -- plus an activity for the posterior delt, such as a rear-delt row or an inverted row. Warm up with five to 10 minutes of light cardio activity before your shoulder session. Perform eight to 12 repetitions of each shoulder exercise, with a sufficient load to make the final reps challenging but still manageable with good form. Perform the shoulder workout twice each week, with at least one rest day between sessions.

    Upright Row Variations

    • If you don’t have a barbell handy, do upright rows by lifting a pair of dumbbells or use one dumbbell at a time. You can also perform upright rows with a straight bar or handles attached to a low cable machine, with a barbell attached to a Smith machine or with a dedicated upright-row machine.