Prone Y raise
Lying face down, thumbs up, lift straight arms in a Y shape.
Strengthens the lower trapezius in the arm-overhead position without hanging your body weight from it.
Starting dose: 3 × 8–12, resting 45 seconds between sets. Two-second hold at the top.
You need a bench or floor space.
No pull-up bar? See all the shoulder drills that need none.
How to do it
- Lie face down on a bench or the floor, forehead on a towel, arms reaching overhead in a Y with the thumbs pointing up.
- Draw the shoulder blades slightly down, then lift both arms a few centimetres.
- Hold for two seconds and lower.
Think about
- Thumbs to the ceiling
- Shoulders away from ears
- Small lift is fine
Watch for
- Lifting the head and chest instead of the arms
- Shrugging
Easier: Arms in a T (out to the sides) rather than a Y.
Harder: Hold a very light weight, or lengthen the hold.
What it works
See all of them on the body model →
Checking it on camera
Phone on the floor two to three metres to the side, the whole of you in frame. A pose model reads a body lying down less well, so the replay may be rough. See it in the filming guide.
A phone camera cannot follow this one well enough to count it, so you type in the count. Film it anyway and the movement the camera saw is kept with the set as proof.
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.
Where it is used
- Phase 2 — Own the top and the way down — Shoulder: kipping works, strict pull-ups do not