The upright row is a movement that has been performed by body builders and fitness enthusiasts for years in hopes of developing shoulders and trapezius musculature.  This highly popular exercise is performed by holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of your with a close, overhand grip, you pull the weight up to your chest, keeping it close to your body, leading with your elbows.

The Upright Row is one of the most harmful exercises you can expose your shoulders to. The problem with the exercise lies in the position your arms must be in in order to perform the movement. The position, called “internal rotation,” is where your arms are bent at the elbow and then internally rotated.  This position, with the addition of weight and your arms raises places your shoulder in an impingement position.  This is where a tendon in your shoulder gets pinched by the bones of the shoulder.

Many will ignore the advice of fitness professionals or personal trainers and continue to perform the exercise seemingly pain free.  The breakdown of this tends occurs slowly over time and gradually breaks down until a severe injury could occur.  To this day, I have witnessed several places all over the Saint Louis area that has members/clients still performing this exercise.  It is important as a personal trainer to educate our clientele on some of these exercises that may be extremely dangerous.  Expect more posts like this in the near future !