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Band Pull Apart anatomy plate showing the working muscles

Shoulders · Mobility drill

Band Pull Apart

The band pull apart is a mobility drill for the shoulders. Here is the setup, the execution, the mistakes worth avoiding, and how to program it.

Equipment

Bodyweight

Trains

Shoulders

Level

Beginner

ARMS STRAIGHTSQUEEZE MID-BACK

Muscles worked

Range of motion work. The point is not fatigue, it is getting the joint and the tissue around it ready to move under load.

Set up

  1. 1

    Find a spot with room to move and set a stable base before anything else.

  2. 2

    Take a slow breath in and out. Mobility work happens on the exhale, not by forcing.

  3. 3

    Start small. The first few reps are a scan of where you are today.

How to do it

  1. 1

    Move through the range slowly, never bouncing into the end position.

  2. 2

    Hold where you feel a real stretch and breathe out into it for two to three breaths.

  3. 3

    Back off the moment it turns sharp. Tension is fine, pain is information.

  4. 4

    Work both sides evenly, even when one side is clearly tighter.

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing at the end range

    Fix: Move slow and hold. Bouncing tightens the tissue back up.

  • Holding the breath

    Fix: Exhale into the position. That is what lets the range open.

  • Only stretching the loose side

    Fix: Work both sides for the same time, every time.

How to program it

Sets

1 to 2

Reps

5 to 10 reps or 30 sec per side

Rest

None

Run it in the warm up before training, or on rest days when you want to move without adding fatigue.

No gym version

Nothing to swap. This one needs a floor and a few minutes, which is the whole point of it.

Questions

More shoulders work

Knowing the lift is the easy part.

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