YTWL Exercise

Description

• Purpose: Improves shoulder stability, posture, and scapular (shoulder blade) control. Often used in physical therapy and warm-ups.
• Starting Position: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Hinge forward at the hips (like a deadlift) keeping your back flat, or lie face down on an incline bench. Keep your thumbs pointing up throughout.
• Y (Arms up): Extend both arms straight forward and upward at a 135-degree angle from your body, forming a "Y". Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top.
• T (Arms out): Open your arms straight out to the sides, perpendicular to your body, forming a "T". Focus on pinching your shoulder blades.
• W (Arms bent): Pull your elbows back, bending them to 90 degrees, and squeeze your shoulder blades to form a "W". Keep your wrists firm.
• L (Arms rotated): Start with elbows bent at 90 degrees and close to your body. Rotate your forearms outward (external rotation) like a goalpost, forming an "L" or a gate.
• Key Focus: Movements should be slow and controlled. Always lead with the thumbs and think about moving the shoulder blades, not just the arms.

Muscles

Primary muscles

• Front deltoid
• Trapezius

Secondary muscles

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Description and images from the open wger exercise database, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (authors: teus_ergaster, wger.de). Translations by Calix are shared under the same license. Muscle diagrams: wger project (AGPL-3.0).