Fitness
Scapular Retraction Cue
Scapular retraction cue sets shoulder blades down and together before presses and rows—stable shoulders beat shrugged, rolled-forward pressing.
Scapular retraction cue sets shoulder blades slightly down and together before rows, bench, and pull-downs—"put shoulder blades in back pockets" without shrugging ears to the ceiling. Retraction stabilizes pressing and pulling; losing it on bench lets shoulders roll forward and irritate joints.
Practice band pull-aparts and scapular push-ups on rest days lightly. On rows, think elbows drive from the back, not hands yanking.
Over-squeezing into a painful pinch is wrong; mild set suffices.
Common questions
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Should you retract shoulder blades on every bench rep?
Set them at the start and keep tension through the set without re-pinching every rep. Losing retraction on rep five is a sign to lower load.
Related terms
Put Scapular Retraction Cue into practice
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