# Upper - Vertical Pull - exercises



## Phineas (Oct 20, 2009)

Can anyone suggest to me good mass/strength building vertical pull exercises aside from pullups and all variations, chins (both of which I do), and pulldowns (trying to continue avoiding machines)?

After starting my own thread and discussing very some of our members, I've decided to include Hang Cleans in my vertical pull, but for my other 6-week program I need a replacement for it. I thought of barbell upright rows, but the site I use for exercises says it's an isolation (I thought it would be compound).


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## CowPimp (Oct 20, 2009)

Phineas said:


> Can anyone suggest to me good mass/strength building vertical pull exercises aside from pullups and all variations, chins (both of which I do), and pulldowns (trying to continue avoiding machines)?
> 
> After starting my own thread and discussing very some of our members, I've decided to include Hang Cleans in my vertical pull, but for my other 6-week program I need a replacement for it. I thought of barbell upright rows, but the site I use for exercises says it's an isolation (I thought it would be compound).



Honestly chinups and pullups are fine.  There are many different variations of those you can do.  If you have access to cable equipment you can do some unique pulldown variations with those too.  I would hardly count cable equipment as a machine, at least in the sense that you might think of many exercise contraptions.  The difference is that cables don't alter your movement path.  All cables do is redirect gravity.  Otherwise, to do a pulldown, you would have to hang upside down and pull the weights toward you.

Upright rows are a horrible exercise.  You have about a 1 in 3 chance of having a subacromial space so cramped that you have a very high chance of creating issues by doing loaded exercises in a position that minimizes this space.

Let's clarify what a compound and isolation exercise is first.  Technically speaking, a compound movement involves multiple joint articulations.  Therefore, it is technically a compound movement.  However, as far as the amount of muscle mass worked, it isn't in the same league with most vertical pull exercises.  Don't get too caught up in these classifications.  The idea is that compound movement are good because you stimulate large amount of muscle mass at once.  A stiff-legged deadlift is hardly a compound movement by definition, but it works a shit ton more muscle mass than a bicep curl.

As well, this is not technically a pulling movement either.  It is a kind of hybrid.  A pulling movement is an exercise where the load is being moved toward your center of mass.  This exercise you do that for a small portion of the range of motion, but then the weight is moving away from the center of mass.

Moral of the story is do your pullups/chinups, don't shy away from pulldown variations, and upright rows are garbage.


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## Phineas (Oct 20, 2009)

Awesome! Case closed.


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## Phineas (Oct 20, 2009)

CowPimp;1931443
Upright rows are a horrible exercise.  You have about a 1 in 3 chance of having a subacromial space so cramped that you have a very high chance of creating issues by doing loaded exercises in a position that minimizes this space.
[/QUOTE said:
			
		

> Can you actually just explain this for me more, please? I don't understand it.


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## danzik17 (Oct 20, 2009)

Phineas said:


> Can you actually just explain this for me more, please? I don't understand it.



I'll take a stab - correct me if I'm wrong CP, want to see if I'm learning anything.

The nerves in your shoulder run within a channel that runs down through the armpit to the rest of the arm.  When you're in the flexed (top) position, the channel that the nerves run through become very compressed and puts you in an ideal position to impinge the nerves that run through it.  They can also cause issues with the stabilizer muscles of the shoulder because the motion doesn't directly recruit the stronger parts of the shoulder but still requires shoulder motion, meaning it's putting more stress on those muscles than you should.

How close did I get (if at all)?


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## Phineas (Apr 15, 2010)

danzik17 said:


> I'll take a stab - correct me if I'm wrong CP, want to see if I'm learning anything.
> 
> The nerves in your shoulder run within a channel that runs down through the armpit to the rest of the arm.  When you're in the flexed (top) position, the channel that the nerves run through become very compressed and puts you in an ideal position to impinge the nerves that run through it.  They can also cause issues with the stabilizer muscles of the shoulder because the motion doesn't directly recruit the stronger parts of the shoulder but still requires shoulder motion, meaning it's putting more stress on those muscles than you should.
> 
> How close did I get (if at all)?



*Sorry for the bump*, everyone, but this was exactly what I wanted to ask about.

Bearing this in mind, how are all shoulder-dominant exercises not bad for the nerve channels? In shoulder press and chest press the shoulder is "flexed". How are upright rows any different?


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