maratoolBand Pull Apart
How to do the band pull apart
- Begin with your arms extended straight out in front of you, holding the band with both hands.
- Initiate the movement by performing a reverse fly motion, moving your hands out laterally to your sides.
- Keep your elbows extended as you perform the movement, bringing the band to your chest. Ensure that you keep your shoulders back during the exercise.
- Pause as you complete the movement, returning to the starting position under control.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the deltoids, which raise and rotate the upper arm at the shoulder joint.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the mid-back retracts the shoulder blades so the shoulder has something solid to work from; the traps anchor the shoulder blade against the load.
Every exercise for:ShouldersMiddle backTraps
How this movement works
One joint changes angle and the resistance travels toward you along a single arc. Nothing is positioned to help, so tension stays where you aimed it and the usable load drops sharply against a multi-joint pull for the same muscle. Protect the range of motion; buying weight by shortening the arc defeats the point.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
A band gets harder the further it stretches, so resistance peaks at the end of the range rather than the middle. It is also the easiest way to scale a movement in small steps.
Every exercise using:Band
These train the shoulders too, using equipment this one does not:
- Barbell Incline Shoulder Raisebarbell
- Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise With Head On Benchdumbbell
- Bent Over Low-Pulley Side Lateralcable
- Double Kettlebell Jerkkettlebell
- Handstand Push-Upsbody only
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 141 shoulders exercises in this database, 74 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.