10 Best Barbell Upright Row Alternatives for Safer Shoulder Training

If Barbell Upright Row V. 2 causes pain or you lack a barbell, choose movements that load the delts without excessive internal rotation. Try dumbbell lateral raises, face pulls, cable lateral raises, seated dumbbell press, or bent-over rear delt flyes. For lateral raises, hinge the scapula slightly and lead with the elbow to 90° abduction to isolate the medial deltoid.

Original Exercise: Barbell Upright Row

Barbell Upright Row
Primary Muscle
Delts
Equipment
Barbell
Difficulty
Intermediate
Type
Compound
Secondary Muscles: Traps, Biceps
How to Perform Barbell Upright Row
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Let the barbell hang in front of your thighs, arms fully extended.
  3. Keeping your back straight, exhale and lift the barbell straight up towards your chin, leading with your elbows.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then inhale and slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Ranked Barbell Upright Row Alternatives

Best Match
Barbell Wide-grip Upright Row

1. Barbell Wide-grip Upright Row

96% Match
Delts Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell with an overhand grip, hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Let the barbell hang in front of your thighs, arms fully extended.
  3. Keeping your back straight, exhale and lift the barbell straight up towards your chin, leading with your elbows.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then inhale and slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Cable Upright Row

2. Cable Upright Row

79.4% Match
Delts Cable Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hold the cable attachment with an overhand grip.
  2. Keep your back straight and your core engaged throughout the exercise.
  3. Pull the cable attachment straight up towards your chin, leading with your elbows.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
  5. Slowly lower the cable attachment back down to the starting position.
Kettlebell Sumo High Pull

3. Kettlebell Sumo High Pull

69.3% Match
Traps Kettlebell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing outwards.
  2. Hold a kettlebell with both hands in front of your body, arms extended downwards.
  3. Bend your knees and lower your hips into a squat position, keeping your back straight.
  4. Drive through your heels and explosively extend your hips and knees, pulling the kettlebell up towards your chin.
  5. As you pull the kettlebell up, keep your elbows high and wide, and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Snatch From Blocks

4. Snatch From Blocks

68.6% Match
Quads Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Begin with a loaded barbell on boxes or stands of the desired height. A wide grip should be taken on the bar. The feet should be directly below the hips, with the feet turned out as needed. Lower the hips, with the chest up and the head looking forward. The shoulders should be just in front of the bar, with the elbows pointed out. This will be the starting position.
  2. Begin the first pull by driving through the front of the heels, raising the bar from the boxes.
  3. Transition into the second pull by extending through the hips knees and ankles, driving the bar up as quickly as possible. The bar should be close to the body. At peak extension, shrug the shoulders and allow the elbows to flex to the side.
  4. As you move your feet into the receiving position, forcefully pull yourself below the bar as you elevate the bar overhead. The feet should move to just outside the hips, turned out as necessary. Receive the bar with your body as low as possible and the arms fully extended overhead.
  5. Keeping the bar aligned over the front of the heels, your head and chest up, drive through heels of the feet to move to a standing position. Carefully return the weight to the boxes.
Hang Snatch - Below Knees

5. Hang Snatch - Below Knees

66.4% Match
Hamstrings Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Begin with a wide grip on the bar, with an overhand or hook grip. The feet should be directly below the hips with the feet turned out. Your knees should be slightly bent, and the torso inclined forward. The spine should be fully extended and the head facing forward. The bar should be just below the knees. This will be your starting position.
  2. Aggressively extend through the legs and hips. At peak extension, shrug the shoulders and allow the elbows to flex to the side.
  3. As you move your feet into the receiving position, forcefully pull yourself below the bar as you elevate the bar overhead. Receive the bar with your body as low as possible and the arms fully extended overhead.
  4. Return to a standing position with the weight overhead, and then return the weight to the floor under control.
Bottoms-Up Clean From The Hang Position

6. Bottoms-Up Clean From The Hang Position

66% Match
Forearms Kettlebell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Initiate the exercise by standing upright with a kettlebell in one hand.
  2. Swing the kettlebell back forcefully and then reverse the motion forcefully. Crush the kettlebell handle as hard as possible and raise the kettlebell to your shoulder.
Power Snatch From Blocks

7. Power Snatch From Blocks

65.9% Match
Quads Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Begin with a loaded barbell on boxes or stands of the desired height. A wide grip should be taken on the bar. The feet should be directly below the hips, with the feet turned out as needed. Lower the hips, with the chest up and the head looking forward. The shoulders should be just in front of the bar, with the elbows pointed out. This will be the starting position.
  2. Begin the first pull by driving through the front of the heels, raising the bar from the boxes.
  3. Transition into the second pull by extending through the hips knees and ankles, driving the bar up as quickly as possible. The bar should be close to the body. At peak extension, shrug the shoulders and allow the elbows to flex to the side.
  4. As you move your feet into the receiving position, forcefully pull yourself below the bar as you elevate the bar overhead. The feet should move to just outside the hips, turned out as necessary. Receive the bar above a full squat and with the arms fully extended overhead.
  5. Keeping the bar aligned over the front of the heels, your head and chest up, drive through heels of the feet to move to a standing position. Carefully return the weight to the boxes.
Barbell Standing Bradford Press

8. Barbell Standing Bradford Press

64.1% Match
Delts Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the barbell in front of your shoulders with an overhand grip.
  2. Press the barbell overhead, fully extending your arms.
  3. Lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
  4. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Hang Clean - Below The Knees

9. Hang Clean - Below The Knees

63.2% Match
Quads Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Begin with a shoulder width, double overhand or hook grip, with the bar hanging just below the knees. Your back should be straight and inclined slightly forward.
  2. Begin by aggressively extending through the hips, knees and ankles, driving the weight upward. As you do so, shrug your shoulders towards your ears. As full extension is achieved, transition into the third pull by aggressively shrugging and flexing the arms with the elbows up and out.
  3. At peak extension, aggressively pull yourself down, rotating your elbows under the bar as you do so. Receive the bar in a front squat position, the depth of which is dependent upon the height of the bar at the end of the third pull. The bar should be racked onto the protracted shoulders, lightly touching the throat with the hands relaxed. Continue to descend to the bottom squat position, which will help in the recovery.
  4. Immediately recover by driving through the heels, keeping the torso upright and elbows up. Continue until you have risen to a standing position.
Split Clean

10. Split Clean

63.2% Match
Quads Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. With a barbell on the floor close to the shins, take an overhand grip just outside the legs. Lower your hips with the weight focused on the heels, back straight, head facing forward, chest up, with your shoulders just in front of the bar. This will be your starting position.
  2. Begin the first pull by driving through the heels, extending your knees. Your back angle should stay the same, and your arms should remain straight. Move the weight with control as you continue to above the knees.
  3. Next comes the second pull, the main source of acceleration for the clean. As the bar approaches the mid-thigh position, begin extending through the hips. In a jumping motion, accelerate by extending the hips, knees, and ankles, using speed to move the bar upward. There should be no need to actively pull through the arms to accelerate the weight; at the end of the second pull, the body should be fully extended, leaning slightly back, with the arms still extended.
  4. As full extension is achieved, transition into the third pull by aggressively shrugging and flexing the arms with the elbows up and out. At peak extension, aggressively pull yourself down, rotating your elbows under the bar as you do so.
  5. Receive the bar with the feet split, aggressively moving one foot forward and one foot back. The bar should be racked onto the protracted shoulders, lightly touching the throat with the hands relaxed. Continue to descend to the bottom position, which will help in the recovery.

Why You Might Need a Barbell Upright Row Alternative

You might substitute the barbell upright row for shoulder pain, limited equipment, or to better target specific deltoid heads. Upright rows bias internal rotation and can aggravate subacromial structures; alternatives reduce impingement by keeping the elbow below shoulder height or encouraging external rotation. For example, face pulls emphasize posterior deltoid and external rotators, pull to eye level with external rotation at the end of the movement to maximize rear delt activation. Dumbbell lateral raises isolate the medial deltoid when you keep a slight elbow bend and lift to shoulder level, minimizing trap dominance and improving scapulohumeral mechanics.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Select a substitute based on goal, equipment, and shoulder mechanics. If you want medial deltoid size, choose dumbbell or cable lateral raises and lead with the elbow to 90° abduction while avoiding shoulder shrug. For posterior delts and rotator cuff balance, pick face pulls and pull to eye level with external rotation. If you need compound overload, use seated dumbbell presses with a neutral wrist and drive through the elbows; brace your core to prevent excessive scapular elevation. Consider movement pattern (abduction vs horizontal pull), required scapular control, and how the exercise loads the deltoid heads.

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles does Barbell Upright Row V. 2 work?

The exercise primarily targets the medial deltoids and recruits the upper trapezius and anterior deltoids as secondary movers. Biomechanically it combines shoulder abduction and scapular elevation; reducing elbow height shifts emphasis away from traps toward the medial delts.

What is the best bodyweight alternative to Barbell Upright Row V. 2?

A solid bodyweight option is the reverse grip bodyweight row (inverted row) with hands wide to emphasize the rear delts and scapular retractors; pull your chest to the bar and squeeze the shoulder blades together. Keep the torso rigid and lead with the elbows to maximize posterior delt and rhomboid activation.

Can I build muscle without doing Barbell Upright Row V. 2?

Yes. You can build deltoid size using targeted alternatives like dumbbell lateral raises for the medial head and seated dumbbell presses for overall shoulder mass. Use progressive overload, increase load, reps, or time under tension (2–3 second eccentrics) while cueing elbow lead and scapular control to ensure proper deltoid activation.

More Exercise Alternatives

Find Alternatives for Any Exercise

Use the exercise substitution finder to compare ranked alternatives for your available equipment and training preference.

Try the Exercise Substitution Finder →