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Mobility · Upper body

Scapular wall slides

Difficulty Mobility

How to perform it

Stand with your back to a wall, arms at a 90° angle ("W"), slowly slide the arms up the wall into a "Y" and back, keeping them in contact with the wall the whole time. Targets the mid/lower traps and rhomboids – a mandatory warm-up before overhead presses and pull-ups. Differs from the band pull-apart by the fixed angle against the wall (which forces the shoulder blades to work correctly).

Video demo

Equipment

No equipment (bodyweight)

Muscles worked

Muscles and artwork credits
  • Mid and lower traps
  • Rear delts
  • Rhomboids (not on the surface map)
  • Side delts

Artwork: Ryan Graves, CC BY 4.0, modified

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Scapular wall slides

Exercise family · pattern: Mobility

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