Barbell Upright Row

Muscles worked by the Barbell Upright Row

Primary

Side DeltsLateral DeltoidTrapsTrapezius

Secondary

Front DeltsAnterior DeltoidBicepsBiceps Brachii

Also called: side deltoid, lateral delt, side delt, medial deltoid, lateral deltoid, trap.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Barbell Upright Row

1. Stand holding a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip.
2. Pull the bar straight up along your body toward your chin.
3. Lead with your elbows, keeping them above your hands.
4. Lower the bar with control.
5. Repeat.

Form tips

• Use a lighter weight if you feel pinching in your shoulders.
• Avoid bending your wrists excessively as the bar rises.
• Avoid swinging or using your legs to heave the weight up.

At a glance

Barbell Upright Row in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Cable Upright Row
• Dumbbell Upright Row
• EZ-Bar Upright Row
• Arnold Press
• Barbell Overhead Press
• Barbell Shrug
• Behind the Neck Press
• Bodyweight Lateral Raise

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "upright-row",
  "name_en": "Barbell Upright Row",
  "name_de": "Langhantel Hochziehen",
  "name_es": "Remo al Mentón con Barra",
  "description_en": "A compound pulling movement for the lateral deltoids and upper traps.",
  "description_de": "Eine zusammengesetzte Zugbewegung für den seitlichen Deltamuskel und den oberen Trapezmuskel.",
  "description_es": "Un movimiento de tirón compuesto para los deltoides laterales y el trapecio superior.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "shoulders",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "lateral_deltoid",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "anterior_deltoid",
    "biceps_brachii"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "upright-row",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand holding a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip.",
    "Pull the bar straight up along your body toward your chin.",
    "Lead with your elbows, keeping them above your hands.",
    "Lower the bar with control.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stehe mit schulterbreitem Obergriff an der Langhantel.",
    "Ziehe die Stange gerade am Körper entlang zur Kinnhöhe.",
    "Führe mit den Ellbogen, die stets über den Händen bleiben.",
    "Senke die Stange kontrolliert.",
    "Wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Párate sosteniendo una barra con un agarre en pronación a la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Tira de la barra hacia arriba a lo largo del cuerpo en dirección al mentón.",
    "Lidera con los codos, manteniéndolos por encima de las manos.",
    "Baja la barra de forma controlada.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Use a lighter weight if you feel pinching in your shoulders.",
    "Avoid bending your wrists excessively as the bar rises.",
    "Avoid swinging or using your legs to heave the weight up."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Vermeide Schwung aus den Beinen beim Hochziehen.",
    "Halte die Handgelenke möglichst gerade und entspannt.",
    "Reduziere die Zughöhe, wenn du Druck in den Schultern spürst."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Sube la barra pegada al cuerpo hacia la barbilla.",
    "Guía el movimiento con los codos por encima de las manos.",
    "Baja la barra de forma controlada en cada repetición."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/upright-row-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/upright-row-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "upright-row");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.