Single-Arm Dumbbell Upright Row
Trains the Traps.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand holding one dumbbell in front of your thigh with an overhand grip.
- Rest the free hand on your hip and stand tall.
- Pull the dumbbell straight up along your body by driving the elbow up and out.
- Keep it close — within an inch or two of the torso the whole way.
- Stop when the upper arm is level with the floor.
- Lower under control to a straight arm, then finish the side before swapping.
Common mistakes
- Pulling to the chin. Above shoulder height the upper arm is rotated inward at the top of its range under load, and nothing the movement is for happens up there.
- Letting the torso lean away from the working side. One dumbbell is an asymmetric load and the trunk holds it square; leaning is that work being handed to the spine.
- Letting the dumbbell drift out in front. Close to the body is what keeps it an upright row rather than a bent-arm front raise.
- Treating it as either a shoulder exercise or a trap exercise. It is both at once, and neither label is the whole answer.