This is a great exercise for working the small, detailed
muscles of the upper back that get easily overwhelmed
when using heavier weights on rows and pulldowns. This
positioning allows you to really put great focus on those
smaller muscles.
If you have trouble with
your shoulders pulling/hunching forward, DO THIS EXERCISE.
It directly targets those postural muscles that help pull
things back into alignment.
You'll set an incline bench
under and a little back from a high pulley. Use a wide
grip handle and a light weight on the machine - this is
all about FEEL, not lifting heavy.
Grab the bar with a wide
grip then sit on the bench.
The MOST important thing
here is that only your butt and the BACK OF YOUR HEAD
will be on the bench. Your entire back and your shoulders
should be OFF the bench.
Because as you pull the
bar down towards your chest, you're going to be using
the back of your head as the base to push your chest towards
the bar at the same time.
So as you pull down and
the bar meets your chest, hold the bar there then focus
on squeezing your shoulder blades together HARD. Remember,
this exercise is all about feel - the idea here is to
take the BIG muscles out of it and just focus on using
the smaller ones (like the teres minor and major, rhomboids,
middle traps, etc) rather than the lats. Pulling your
shoulder blades in while keep your elbows out wide and
forcing your chest out will do this.
Repeat this for high reps.
Since you're going to be using light weight (that's mandatory!),
you'll need the high reps to get a good training effect.
Using heavier weight will force your body to recruit the
lats to a greater extent, which is what we want to avoid
with this exercise.
As I mentioned above, it's
excellent for the postural muscles that pull your shoulders
back into alignment. It's also GREAT for developing the
detailed muscles of your upper back that don't get worked
effectively with heavier training.
Just remember...NO BACK
ON THE BENCH...just the back of your head and your butt...that's
it.
