Spinal Stretch

Muscles worked

The muscles under tension are the rhomboids and mid-trapezius, which draw the shoulder blades together and back down the ribcage.

A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.

Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the lats keep the upper arm drawn in toward the torso; the lower back keeps the spine from rounding; the neck muscles keep the head from being dragged out of position.

The traps take a share of the work as well.

Every exercise for:Middle backLatsLower backNeckTraps

How this movement works

You get into position and hold. One joint sets the angle and one muscle group takes the tension, so the load stays exactly where you put it. Hold for time, breathe normally, and come out the moment the position drifts: a shape that has quietly shifted is no longer training what you set it up to train.

It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.

What you need

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

• Straight Bar Bench Mid Rowsbarbell
• T-Bar Rowsmachine
• Two-Arm Kettlebell Rowkettlebell
• Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Rowdumbbell
• Rhomboids-SMRfoam roll

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 37 middle back exercises in this database, 21 are listed at beginner level.