1. Shoulder Rope Pull
- Stand with the rope in between your legs.
- Keeping your arms straight (elbows slightly bent), pull the rope up from the floor to your shoulder height, hold for a count of two seconds, and slowly return to the starting position.
- Repeat until the set is complete.
- Using your legs and butt, straighten your knees until your body comes to a standing position.
- Repeat the movement to complete the set.
2. Lateral Raise
*Can complete this exercise sitting down on a bench, or standing up. Tis is also combined with squats in our workouts.
- Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart and have dumbbells by your side at arms length away. When performing this exercise your palms should be facing down.
- Keep your abs pulled into your spine, your torso stationary and raise the dumbbells to your side with a slight bend at your elbow. Lift your arms until they are parallel to the floor (shoulder level) and pause for a second at the top.
- Lower the dumbbells back down slowly and repeat.
3. Straight Arm Rope Pull
The movement is the same whether you’re using a rope or a bar!
- Find a pulldown machine and attach a wide bar from at your shoulder level on the pulley. Grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing down), and make sure your grip is wider than your shoulder-width.
- Take a couple steps back and keep your feet shoulder-width apart. Slightly hinge at the waist so your torso is leaning forward. Keep your arms fully extend, so that’ it’s parallel with the ground, and have a slight bend at the elbows.
- Pull the bar down while keeping the arms straight. Continue pulling down until your hands are beside your thighs; you should feel a contraction in your lats.
- Repeat the movement.
4. Cable Row in Squat
Caution: Avoid swinging your torso back and forth as you can cause a lower back injury. You can use a rope, two handles, or a V-bar to complete this exercise.
- Attach a rope to a low pulley on a cable.
- Grab the rope, and sit back in a squat position as close to 90 degrees as possible. Make sure you’re far back enough that you have full range of motion with your arms.
- Pull the rope as far back as possible by driving your elbows directly behind you. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, hold for 1 second, and then return to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement until the set is complete.
