Re "Crazy Eights":
1. First, imagine each complete biceps curl as starting at the bottom of a clock, and your hands / weight load are at 6:00; you curl up, and at the top of the curl your hands/weightload are at 12:00
2. Then, starting back at the bottom at 6:00, only curl up to 3:00, and control the curl back down to 6:00; do that over and over and over again until you scream like a woman;
3. Then, IMMEDIATELY, starting at the top at 12:00, only lower down in a CONTROLLED manner to 3:00, then curl back up to 12:00, and do that over and over again until you scream like TWO women;
4. Then, drop the weights and go have a beer to re-hydrate and replenish your glycogen stores.
Re upright rows, I too remember that there is a bit of risk to the shoulder joint, and perhaps the rotator cuff, if done to the exclusion of all other shoulder exercises. I think part of it has to do with how close your hands are when gripping the weight load (either dumbbells or barbell) and another part of it has to do with how high you raise the weight and how high your elbows go over the level of the shoulder. My impression, from conversations I've had with a trainer-friend in Florida who is a licensed physical therapist as well as a certified personal trainer, is that upright rows are not universally dangerous but instead can be a safe and effective exercise if you pay attention to good arm and trunk form AND don't rely on them exclusively. My suggestion is don't try to keep the hands excessively close OR far away when holding the weights, and don't try to crank the weight load up too high so that your elbows go over the level of the shoulder. And pay attention to avoiding tensing up the upper back muscles and rounding forward as you lift.
Hope this helps -
Annette