Smith Machine Upright Row

Smith Machine Upright Row: Muscle Worked, Benefits

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The smith machine upright row is a machine exercise that builds stronger and bigger traps, rhomboids and rear deltoids.

No doubt, it is one of the best exercises for building upper back, but it’s also easy to get wrong. Typically, this will just result in you missing out on the muscle-building benefits of the move. Incorrect technique can also place undue pressure on your shoulders and increase your risk of injury.

You shouldn’t be scared out of integrating the smith machine upright row into your routine. There are several ways you’ll need to look out to improve the technique. To perform the smith machine upright row exercises in a safe and effective way, must read this blog.

Muscle Worked In Smith Machine Upright Row

A real upper body powerhouse, the upright row machine mainly target your Traps and deltoid. Some of the body’s most integral muscle groups, including:

  • Shoulders: Working on the deltoids, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles, the upright row is perfect for building strength, muscle, and stability in the shoulder and upper back region.
  • Rhomboids: Upper back muscles that connect the shoulder blades and offer a great deal of support, working on your rhomboids will improve your posture.
  • Biceps: As major arm muscles, building your biceps will significantly enhance your upper body strength as well as general upper body resilience.
Muscle Worked In Upright Row Exercise

Benefits of a Smith Machine Upright Row

Here are the benefits of a machine upright row :

  • Muscle strength & growth: Due to its targeted pulling motion, a large group of major upper body muscles are targeted. Performing this exercise regularly is likely to accelerate your muscle growth and strength in your back, biceps, and shoulders.
  • Stability & conditioning: Upright row activates all major areas of the shoulders, making it excellent for upper body stability and conditioning. By doing frequent upright rows, you will improve your position while protecting yourself from injury.
  • Builds Traps: Traps are tricky to build. There are only a handful of exercises that mainly target your traps. A barbell upright row utilizes your traps just as much as it works your shoulders.
  • Arm power: It will make your arms more powerful, improving your performance in other exercises and activities as a result.
  • Improve your posture. When practiced with proper form, upright row machine exercises help build strength in your upper body stabilizer muscle groups, helping you stand up tall and keep your back straight.

Smith Machine Upright Row

The Smith machine upright row is a variation of the upright row and an exercise used to target the muscles of the shoulders.

The Smith machine provides a fixed movement pattern to better isolate the muscles of the shoulders.

Smith Machine Upright Row

How To Do Upright Row On Smith Machine

  1. Adjust the bar of the Smith Machine so that it’s at the middle of your thighs.
  2. Select the desired weight and load it onto a bar. Unpack the bar by rotating the safety latches off the j-hooks.
  3. Ensure that the barbell is resting against your thighs, as it’s important to keep the bar close to your body while you perform the exercise.
  4. Inhale, brace your abs, and then lead the movement by driving the elbows high as you pull the bar to chest height.
  5. When the bar has reached its peak, reverse the movement slowly while controlling the bar back to the starting position.
  6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Training Volume (Sets And Reps)

Of course, the number of sets and reps will be determined based on your fitness journey, but here is a great starting point:

  • 3-4 Sets
  • 8-12 Reps

Choose a weight that allows you to execute the exercises with proper form throughout the entire set and repetition range. The load should bring you to or near failure within the given rep ranges to be effective.

Smith Machine Upright Row Variations

The smith upright row can be beneficial for your upper body, but there are different ways to perform it.

Smith Machine One-Arm Upright Row

One arm upright row is one of the unilateral variation of a smith machine row. If you are new to this exercise, it is recommended that you start with a lighter weight or no added weight to get comfortable with the motion.

Smith Machine One Arm Upright Row Exercise Video

How To Do Single Arm upright Row With Smith Machine

  1. You should start with the bar at your thighs.
  2. Use one hand to grab the bar. Your grip should be outside of your shoulder.
  3. To start this exercise, raise your arm and flex your elbow.
  4. Keep raising the bar until your upper arm is parallel with the floor.
  5. When you get to the top, return to your starting position.
  6. Do the desired number of repetitions with each hand.

Smith Machine Wide Grip Upright Row

If you’re a beginner at the upright row, you may want to start with a wide grip.

It is best to begin with a stance where your hands are outside of your shoulders. According to Jim Stoppani, if you do the barbell upright row with a close-grip, it places a lot of the focus on the front delts and upper traps.

Wider upright rows allow the elbows to move out to the sides more, which hits the middle deltoids more effectively.

Smith Machine Wide Grip Upright Row

How To Do Smith Upright Row With Wide Hand

  1. Adjust the bar of the Smith Machine so that it’s at the middle of your thighs.
  2. Select the desired weight and load it onto a bar. Grab the bar with your hands in an overhand grip, about 4-6 inches wider than shoulder-width apart, just outside of your thighs.
  3. Unlatch the barbell from the Smith Machine with an overhand grip. Hold on to the bar and let it drop to your waist.
  4. Inhale and then lead the movement by pulling the bar to chest height with your elbow high.
  5. When the bar has reached its peak, reverse the movement slowly while controlling the bar back to the starting position.
  6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Close Grip Smith Upright Row

Performing a close-grip smith upright row, rather than a wide-grip Smith-machine upright row, actives more trapezius muscle fibres and comparatively lesser delts muscles.

More importantly, though, using a close-grip means that you need to raise the bar higher to contract your traps.

This is not ok, Why? Because it puts your tiny infraspinatus and supraspinatus rotator cuffs in a very vulnerable position.

A word of caution, however. Close grip upright rows do increase tension on the rotator cuff. If you have shoulder pain or mobility problems, try the close grip version of this exercise cautiously.

How To Do Smith Upright Row With Wide Hand

  1. Adjust the bar of the Smith Machine so that it’s at the middle of your thighs.
  2. Grab the bar with your hands in an overhand grip, closer than shoulder-width apart.
  3. Unlatch the barbell from the Smith Machine with an overhand grip. Hold on to the bar and let it drop to your waist.
  4. Inhale and then lead the movement by pulling the bar to chest height with your elbow high.
  5. When the bar is at its highest point, slowly reverse the movement while controlling the bar back to the starting position.

Smith machine upright row Proper Form And Technique

Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program.

  • Keep a controlled motion and avoid jerky movements.
  • Always use weights that you can handle comfortably.
  • For the decline dumbbell press, it is best to set the bench at about 15-30 degrees declined
  • Always use the longest range of motion possible and control the dumbbells throughout the set.
  • Make sure your hands aren’t too close together. This can result in a wrist injury, and it’s easy to avoid by simply moving your grip width to be a little wider.
  • If your weight is too heavy, the movement will require more strength. Heavy lifting can put too much stress on the shoulders and take the focus away.
  • Don’t lean back as you pull the weight up, keep the motion under control, and don’t rely on momentum.
  • If machine upright rows bother your wrists, consider a dumbbell, cable, or banded options as these place less stress on the wrists.
  • Don’t pull the bar too high, Pulling the bar too high can increase the likelihood of an impingement injury at the shoulder.
  • When lowering the weight, make sure your chest is proud and shoulders pulled back and together (known as scapular retraction).
  • Ultimately, your results will depend on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. It is recommended that you allow at least 36 to 48 hours of rest before training the same muscle groups again, in order to allow for sufficient recovery.

FAQ

What is a Smith machine upright row?

A Smith machine upright row is a shoulder exercise that mainly workout the upper trapezius muscles and the lateral head of the deltoids.

Is the Smith machine one arm upright row good for delts?

Yes, the Smith machine one-arm upright row is an excellent deltoid exercise because it enables you to even out your muscles imbalances by training each side of your body independently.

Will doing smith machine wide grip upright rows widen my shoulders?

Yes, absolutely. Performing a Smith machine wide grip upright row is a great way to add mass to your side delts, provided you consume enough calories and high-quality protein.

What’s the most effective Smith machine upright row replacement?

Cable lateral raises and dumbbell upright row are the most effective Smith machine upright row alternative because they provide your side delts with plenty of growth-stimulating time under tension.

Takeaway

A smith machine upright row can strengthen the posterior chain muscles, including the shoulders and upper back. With great attention to form, you’ll reap all the benefits.

Let us know, in the comment section below, your valuable suggestions!

Thanks for reading.

References

1. Schoenfeld, Brad MSc, CSCS; Kolber, Morey J PT, PhD, CSCS; Haimes, Jonathan E BS, CSCS: The Upright Row: Implications for Preventing Subacromial Impingement. Strength and Conditioning Journal: October 2011 – Volume 33 – Issue 5 – p 25-28

2. Ronai, Peter MS, CSCS, RCEP: Exercise Modifications and Strategies to Enhance Shoulder Function. Strength and Conditioning Journal: August 2005 – Volume 27 – Issue 4 – p 36-45

3. McAllister M, Schilling B, Hammond K, Weiss L, Farney T. Effect of grip width on electromyographic activity during the upright row. J Strength Cond PMID: 22362088 DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31824f23ad

4.Cools AM, Witvrouw EE, Declercq GA, Danneels LA, Cambier DC. Scapular muscle recruitment patterns: Trapezius muscle latency with and without impingement symptoms. Am J Sports Med 31: 542–549, 2003.

5. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Trapezius muscle timing during selected shoulder rehabilitation exercises. 2021 Jun 14;18(12):6444. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126444.PMID: 34198674

6. Lorenzetti S, Dayer R, Pluss M, List R. Pulling exercises for strength training and rehabilitation: movements and loading conditions. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2017;2(3):33. doi:10.3390/jfmk2030033

7. Mazur LJ, Yetman RJ, Risser WL. Weight-training injuries. Common injuries and preventative methods. Sports Med 16: 57–63, 1993.

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