Sled Overhead Backward Walk

🎯 Shoulders🏋️ OtherBeginnerCompoundCalves (2°)Middle back (2°)Quadriceps (2°)

How to do the sled overhead backward walk

  1. Attach dual handles to a sled connected by a rope or chain. Load the sled to a light weight.
  2. Face the sled, backing up until there is some tension in the line. Hold your hands directly above your head with your elbows extended. This will be your starting position.
  3. Walk backwards, keeping your arms raised above your head. Avoid jerky movements.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the deltoids, which raise and rotate the upper arm at the shoulder joint.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the mid-back retracts the shoulder blades so the shoulder has something solid to work from; the quadriceps straighten the knee and take load on the descent.

Every exercise for:ShouldersCalvesMiddle backQuadriceps

How this movement works

The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

These train the shoulders too, using equipment this one does not:

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.

Related exercises

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ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.