Cable Scapular Pulldown

Sit at a lat pulldown machine with your thighs under the knee pad and grip the bar about shoulder-width apart. Start with your arms fully straight overhead and your shoulders raised toward your ears.

Keeping your elbows straight, pull only your shoulders down to lower the bar a few centimeters. Think of sliding your shoulder blades down toward your back pockets to feel your lats and lower traps tighten.

Hold the bottom position for 1 second, then slowly let your shoulders rise to return the bar. Keep your arms straight as your shoulders move up toward your ears and control the weight instead of letting it pull you.

The key is feeling your shoulder blades, not your arms, move up and down as your lats and lower traps tighten. If your elbows bend or you feel your biceps, lower the weight and keep the range small.

Bending your elbows turns it into a regular lat pulldown and defeats the purpose of training shoulder blade movement. Leaning back to lower the bar moves your torso instead of your shoulders, so keep your torso angle fixed.

Exhale as you pull your shoulders down and inhale as you let them rise. The range is small, so move slowly with your breathing to keep the sensation.

A light set before lat pulldowns helps wake up the shoulder-depression cue for your back training. A small range is normal, so focus on pausing briefly with your shoulder blades fully lowered.