Alternatives · Traps
7 Upright Row Alternatives That Still Load the Upper Traps and Rear Delts
The upright row covers two jobs in one lift: lifting the shoulder blades for the upper traps and pulling the elbows wide for the rear delts. Most swaps do one of those jobs better than the original does both.
The short answer
The Dumbbell Upright Row is the most direct Upright Row alternative, keeping the elbow-led pull while each hand finds its own path. For the upper traps alone, the Barbell Shrug loads them far heavier through a shorter range. For the rear delts and the high-elbow position, the Face Pull on a cable is the best choice. A shrug plus a face pull covers everything the upright row does.
The best Upright Row alternative for your situation
| No equipment | Prone Y Raise |
|---|---|
| With a resistance band | Banded Face Pull |
| With dumbbells | Dumbbell Upright Row or Dumbbell Shrug |
| On a cable stack | Face Pull |
| On a machine | Reverse Pec Deck |
| For heavier loading | Barbell Shrug |
What a Upright Row alternative has to replace
The upright row pulls a barbell straight up the front of your body, led by the elbows. With a grip at shoulder width or wider, the elbows travel out to the sides until they reach shoulder height, and on the way up two things happen: the upper traps lift the shoulder blades, and the rear delts help drag the upper arm out and back. The side delts and elbow flexors pitch in too. It is a moderate-weight lift, because the delts cap what you can raise to shoulder height, so the traps rarely see a heavy load.
A replacement can keep both jobs or split them. Keeping both means another elbow-led upward pull, usually with dumbbells. Splitting means one exercise for elevation, where a shrug lets you load heavy, and one for elbows-high pulling, where a face pull or a rear delt movement belongs. The split is often the better trade if the barbell’s fixed grip feels cramped at the top.
7 Upright Row alternatives, best first
1. Dumbbell Upright Row
Keep the exact movement and change only the implement. The Dumbbell Upright Row still leads with the elbows and still stops at shoulder height, so the upper traps and rear delts do the same jobs. What you gain is freedom of hand position through the top of the rep. What you give up is heavy loading, since two dumbbells rarely add up to your bar weight.
Swapping it in: Start with each dumbbell at roughly 40 percent of your barbell weight, keep them close to your body, and do three sets of twelve with the elbows stopping level with your shoulders.
2. Barbell Shrug
If you do upright rows mainly for trap size, the Barbell Shrug is the heavier route. Arms stay straight, so the rear delts and elbow flexors are out of it, and all that is left is lifting the shoulder blades. Because nothing limits the load except the traps and your grip, you can use a much heavier bar than your upright row allows. What you lose is range.
Swapping it in: Use a weight you can hold for twelve reps with a one-second pause at the top, do three or four sets, and add a rear delt exercise to cover the rest.
3. Face Pull
Set a rope at face height and the Face Pull becomes the rear-delt half of the upright row on its own. Your hands finish beside your ears with the elbows high and wide, and the rear delts and lower traps do the pulling instead of the upper traps. The cable suits light, high-rep sets, which is what these smaller muscles respond to. Pair it with a shrug.
Swapping it in: Run three sets of fifteen at a weight you can pause for one second with your hands beside your ears; place it after shrugs on the same day.
4. Dumbbell Shrug
The Dumbbell Shrug is the home or light-gym version of the trap half. Holding the weights at your sides lets the shoulders lift straight up without a bar brushing your thighs, and a heavy pair of dumbbells is plenty of load for trap work away from a rack. It keeps the elevation and drops everything else, so plan a rear delt exercise alongside it.
Swapping it in: Hold the heaviest pair you can grip for fifteen reps, pause two seconds at the top, and lower slowly; three sets, followed by a Banded Face Pull at home.
5. Reverse Pec Deck
On a machine, the Reverse Pec Deck covers the rear delt side of the upright row with no trap elevation at all. You face the pad and sweep your arms back, so they end level with your shoulders like the top of an upright row, only after traveling sideways and back instead of up. Use it when no cable is free, and pair it with shrugs.
Swapping it in: Set the handles at shoulder height, keep a slight bend in the elbows, and do three sets of twelve to fifteen with a pause when your arms line up with your shoulders.
6. Banded Face Pull
At home, a band anchored at face height gives you the Banded Face Pull, which covers the rear delts and lower traps with almost no setup. Tension grows as the hands move toward your ears, so the finish, the position closest to the top of an upright row, is where the band pulls hardest. It will not replace heavy trap work, so add shrugs.
Swapping it in: Anchor the band on a door at eye level, do sets of twenty with a two-second hold at the ears, and pair it with Dumbbell Shrugs or Kettlebell Shrugs.
7. Prone Y Raise
The Prone Y Raise needs only the floor. Lying face down, you raise straight arms into a Y, which trains the lower traps first but also brings in the upper traps and rear delts, a mix close to what the upright row spreads across the top of the back. Without weight, it is a volume and control exercise rather than a strength one, best for no-equipment days.
Swapping it in: Hold each rep at the top for two seconds with thumbs up, do three sets of twelve to fifteen, and add light dumbbells or water bottles once that is easy.
Illustrations adapted from Everkinetic via workout-guide, CC BY-SA 4.0. Full credits.
Side by side
| Exercise | Equipment | Where | Level | Muscles shared with the Upright Row |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upright Row (original) | Barbell | Gym | Intermediate | Upper Traps, Rear Delts |
| Dumbbell Upright Row | Dumbbell | Home or gym | Intermediate | 2 of 2: Upper Traps, Rear Delts |
| Barbell Shrug | Barbell | Gym | Beginner | 1 of 2: Upper Traps |
| Face Pull | Cable | Gym | Beginner | 1 of 2: Rear Delts |
| Dumbbell Shrug | Dumbbell | Home or gym | Beginner | 1 of 2: Upper Traps |
| Reverse Pec Deck | Machine | Gym | Beginner | 1 of 2: Rear Delts |
| Banded Face Pull | Resistance Band | Home or gym | Beginner | 1 of 2: Rear Delts |
| Prone Y Raise | Bodyweight | Home or gym | Beginner | 2 of 2: Upper Traps, Rear Delts |
How to choose
Decide whether you want one exercise that does both jobs or two that each do one job well.
- One lift, same pattern: Dumbbell Upright Row.
- Heavier trap work: Barbell Shrug in the gym, Dumbbell Shrug at home.
- Rear delts and elbows-high pulling: Face Pull on a cable, Reverse Pec Deck on a machine, Banded Face Pull at home.
- No equipment: Prone Y Raise.
Most people get more from a pair than from one direct swap: a shrug for three sets of ten to twelve followed by a face pull for three sets of fifteen covers the traps and rear delts with heavier loading on each. BackMaxx scores the traps and the rear delts as separate zones, which helps you decide which half deserves more sets.
Full Upright Row guide: form, muscles worked and mistakes →
Frequently asked questions
What is the best upright row alternative with dumbbells?
The Dumbbell Upright Row is the best dumbbell alternative, because it is the same elbow-led lift with each hand free to find its own path. If you want the upper traps loaded heavier, the Dumbbell Shrug is the better pick. A good dumbbell-only session pairs Dumbbell Shrugs with the Rear Delt Fly to cover both muscles the upright row trains.
What can I do instead of upright rows on a machine?
For the rear delts, use the Reverse Pec Deck, which sweeps the arms back to shoulder height on a fixed path. For the upper traps, the Barbell Shrug is still the simplest choice, and a Face Pull on a cable station covers the high-elbow position. Three sets of each gives you both halves of the upright row without the barbell.
What exercise works the same muscles as the upright row?
Only the Dumbbell Upright Row matches it directly. The upright row trains the upper traps and rear delts together, so the closest match with a different movement is a pair: the Barbell Shrug for the upper traps and the Face Pull for the rear delts. The Farmer Carry also loads the upper traps if you want a heavy, loaded-walk option.
What is a good upright row alternative for the rear delts?
The Face Pull is the best pick for the rear delts, since it keeps the high elbows of an upright row and pulls them back. At home, use the Banded Face Pull; in a gym with no cable free, use the Reverse Pec Deck. Three sets of fifteen with a pause at the finish gives the rear delts more direct work than an upright row does.
Which of these does your back actually need?
BackMaxx scores your traps and the five other back zones from one photo, then builds each session around whichever one is furthest behind.
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