Band pull-aparts are an excellent upper back and shoulder exercise that too few people do.
While they appear simple, they’re highly beneficial for improving posture, bolstering shoulder health, enhancing scapular control, warming up several upper body muscles, and facilitating shoulder injury recovery.
In this article, you’ll learn what resistance band pull-aparts are, why they’re advantageous, which muscles they work, how to do them with proper form, the best band pull-apart alternatives and variations, and more.
To perform the resistance band pull apart, hold a resistance band at arms’ length in front of your chest with a shoulder-width grip and move your hands away from each other until your upper arms are out to your sides.
The banded pull-apart helps improve the stability of the shoulder joint by strengthening the rotator cuff muscles. These muscles are crucial for almost all upper body movements, and stronger rotator cuff muscles can reduce your risk of shoulder injuries.
3. They help you learn how to retract and depress your scapula.
The banded pull-apart trains all upper back and shoulder muscles.
Specifically, the main muscles worked by band pull-aparts are the . . .
Here’s how they look on your body:
How to Do Band Pull-Aparts With Proper Form
To master the band pull-apart exercise, split it into three parts: set up, pull apart, and protract.
1. Set up
Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a light resistance band at arms’ length in front of your chest with a shoulder-width grip and your palms facing the floor.
Adjust your grip so there’s tension in the band when your hands are shoulder-width apart.
2. Pull apart
Move your hands away from each other until your arms are directly out to your sides and the band touches your chest. As you pull the band apart, squeeze your shoulder blades together.
3. Protract
Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.
The Best Band Pull-Apart Alternatives and Variations
Kolber, Morey J., et al. “Characteristics of Shoulder Impingement in the Recreational Weight-Training Population.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, vol. 28, no. 4, 1 Apr. 2014, pp. 1081–1089, journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/FullText/2014/04000/Characteristics_of_Shoulder_Impingement_in_the.28.aspx, https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000250.
Fukunaga, Takumi, et al. “Band Pull-Apart Exercise: Effects of Movement Direction and Hand Position on Shoulder Muscle Activity.” International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, vol. 17, no. 3, 2 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.33026. Accessed 1 May 2022.
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