One of my favorite exercises. Problems can develop when the bar is raised too far out & away from the body, which puts undo strain on the shoulder joints. Keep the bar close, to almost touching, the body always (as Montague suggest). The basic upright row has the grip around 8 inches apart and the pull to just between the upper chest and neck. Some guy's feel too much of a strain on the wrist with a straight bar, so an EZ bar might be better served.
The close cousin to the upright row is the hi-pull which has a much wider grip, which allows the bar to be raised to about lower pec height. Keep the bar close to the body, as in the upright row. Some guy's make the mistake of trying to pull the bar too high up, also putting undo stress on the shoulder joints. (Gironda used a version of the wide grip/high-pull fo ra direct delt exercise....the pull being as high as the mid chest level..if going any higher you may feel it in the shoulder joints..but he only advised moderate weight and a slow pull). Should not feel any great discomfort on the wrist with a wider grip. If so, than an Olympic style EZ bar may help also.
I used DB's, from time to time. One arm at a time and elbows out wide. Important to warm up the area before any serious weight is used. If going to do uprights, than only use an empty bar for 20 rep's, or more, light reps . Warmup with the actual exercise you plan to do. Some guy's do not. If, for example I am going to do squats I will do 50 to 100 rep Hindu squats for a complete warmup of the knees, hip/gluts and most of the leg structure. Primed for some heavy squatting after that. Good Luck.
