Bodyweight exercises are often underestimated. Sure, a crunch might not challenge your core the way weighted ab exercises do, but there’s arguably no greater way to test your strength than with a pullup. You have to lift your entire body weight against gravity, challenging your arms, back, and grip strength. 

If you’re struggling to do more pullups, you’re probably not priming your body well enough. The right activation drill can make pullups seem easier and increase the number of continuous reps you can blast out.

Our favorite trick? Doing Y-W-T holds before stepping up to the bar. 

Want the latest fitness advice and workouts to tackle any adventure? Sign up for our Blueprint newsletter.

What’s a Y-W-T Hold?

“The Y-W-T’s holds can make movements like pullups easier because they train the muscles around the shoulder blades,” says Andy Fata-Chan, physical therapist, fitness coach, and founder of Moment Physical Therapy & Performance “As we hang from a bar, the shoulder blade sits in an upward rotation. As we start to perform a pullup, the shoulder blades move into downward rotation. The muscles around the shoulder blade help perform these actions.”

Related: The Mobility Trick That Instantly Makes Your Squat Stronger

Why It Works

If you’ve ever done pullups without a proper warmup, there’s a good chance you hear cracking and feel a slight impingement. This can lead to discomfort and pain and may even keep you from performing the exercise properly. Y-W-T holds work to strengthen, stabilize, and mobilize the muscles in your shoulders.

“The Ys strengthen the lower traps and create length in the lats, the Ts strengthen the middle traps and rhomboid muscles while creating length in the anterior deltoids, and the Ws strengthen the external rotator cuff muscles and posterior deltoids while creating length in the pectoralis major and minor,” Fata-Chan says.

If you’re lacking in mobility, you’ll end up compensating during the pullup.

“You need to be able to fully retract the shoulder blades at the top of the pullup,” Fata-Chan says. “If you can’t, then you might have compensations from the upper traps contributing to a lot of shrugging.”

How to Do Y-W-T Holds

1. Lie on your belly, limbs outstretched. 
2. Engage your core, glutes, and back to lift your torso off the floor. 
3. Press your arms up into a Y shape and hold. 
4. Bend your elbows and bring your hands toward your rib cage to make a W and hold. 
5. Reach your arms out to your sides to form a T and hold (shown). 
6. Hold each position for 20 seconds.

Related: How to Make Crunches 10X More Effective So Your Abs Pop

Source link