I was first introduced to the upright row when I was in high school. At the time, I was (and still am) looking at ways to improve the Yoke. I think the upright row is one of the best ways. I see a lot of people disregard this lift, but they are usually sans traps, so I wouldn't listen.
This isn't rocket science when doing these; the only coaching point is to always keep your elbows above the bar. I don't use a ton of weight on this exercise as I find myself cheating quite a bit if I do. I usually take a close/medium grip on the bar, but it can be done with a wide (a little closer than a snatch) grip.
This is a great lift to do at the end of your workout. I never felt as if this had a great carryover to the bench press. But my entire training regimen isn't geared completely toward bench pressing; I want some massive traps, too.
I have found that higher reps work best for me, but you can play around with it. I like using 10-20 reps best.
