Bent-Over YTWL
oec:bent-over-ytwl
A bent-over scapular prehab and mobility sequence cycling through Y, T, W, and L arm positions to strengthen the upper back and rotator cuff.
Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.
Also called: YTWL Exercise, YTWL Raise, YTWLs, Bent-Over Y-T-W-L
How to do it
Setup
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and knees soft.
- Hinge at the hips until your torso is angled at approximately 45 degrees or nearly parallel to the floor, maintaining a neutral spine.
- Let your arms hang straight down naturally with your thumbs pointing upward.
Movement
- Perform the 'Y': Raise both straight arms diagonally forward at roughly a 45-degree angle from the torso with thumbs pointing toward the ceiling, pause briefly to squeeze the lower traps, then lower.
- Perform the 'T': Raise both straight arms out laterally to the sides perpendicular to your body, squeezing the shoulder blades together, then lower under control.
- Perform the 'W': Pull your elbows up and back while bending the elbows to 90 degrees, externally rotating the shoulders to form a 'W' shape with your arms, pause, then lower.
- Perform the 'L': Keep elbows bent at 90 degrees and pinned near your ribs, then rotate your forearms upward and backward around the elbow axis into external rotation before returning to the start.
Breathing
Breathe smoothly and continuously throughout the complex, exhaling on each lift and inhaling as you lower.
Cues
- Lead with your thumbs
- Move from the shoulder blades, not just the hands
- Keep your neck neutral and spine flat
Common faults
- Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears with the upper trapezius.
- Keep the shoulders pulled down away from the ears and initiate the movement by retracting and depressing the scapulae.
- Rounding the lower back during the hinge.
- Brace the core, hinge deeply at the hips, and maintain a flat, neutral spine throughout all letter positions.
- Using heavy weights and swinging through momentum.
- Perform the movement unweighted or with micro-weights, moving strictly under control with brief isometric holds at peak contraction.
Safety
- If maintaining a bent-over hinge causes lower back fatigue, perform the sequence lying prone on an incline bench.
Muscles
Joints
- Shoulder blade: Retraction, Upward rotation, Depression
- Shoulder: Abduction, Horizontal abduction, External rotation, Flexion
- Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization
Details
- Movement
- Mobility drill, Horizontal pull
- Modality
- Mobility, Rehabilitation, Calisthenics
- Mechanics
- compound
- Force
- pull
- Laterality
- bilateral
- Kinetic chain
- open
- Level
- beginner
- Equipment
- None
- Record
- Repetitions
- Load
- bodyweight
Related
- substitute for Prone YTW Raise
- substitute for Prone Y-T-W Raise
- substitute for Standing I-Y-T Raise
Sources
- wger: YTWL Exercise, by teus_ergaster (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.