Band pull-apart
Hold a light band at shoulder height with straight arms and pull it apart to your chest.
Wakes up the muscles between and behind the shoulder blades with almost no load on the front of the shoulder.
Starting dose: 3 × 12–15, resting 45 seconds between sets.
You need a light resistance band.
No pull-up bar? See all the shoulder drills that need none.
How to do it
- Stand holding a light band in both hands, arms straight in front of you at shoulder height, hands about shoulder width apart.
- Pull the band apart by moving the hands out to the sides until it touches your chest.
- Return slowly to the start.
Think about
- Shoulders down, not up
- Squeeze the shoulder blades at the end
- Slow return
Watch for
- Shrugging
- Arching the lower back
- Bending the elbows a lot to make it easier
Easier: A lighter band, or hands further apart on the band.
Harder: A stronger band, or a three-second pause with the band at the chest.
What it works
See all of them on the body model →
Checking it on camera
Facing the phone, two metres away, from the hips up in frame. See it in the filming guide.
The pain rule
- 0–3 out of 10 during the drill: fine, carry on.
- 4–5: do less — a smaller range, fewer reps, or the easier version.
- 6 or more: stop that drill for today.
- Worse the next morning than before the session: that session was too much. Step back.
- 6 or more on waking, any morning: rest the shoulder that day.
Sharp or catching pain, or pins and needles, means stop regardless of the number.
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Where it is used
- Phase 1 — Set the shoulder blades — Shoulder: kipping works, strict pull-ups do not