Band pull-apart: the form, what each grip and direction works, and where it fits

A band pull-apart is a reverse fly done with a resistance band: you hold the band out in front of you with straight arms and pull your hands apart and back. In a muscle-activity study (EMG, sensors on the skin) of 10 healthy men, it worked the back of the shoulder, the upper, middle and lower trapezius, and the infraspinatus, one of the rotator cuff muscles, at between 15.3% and 72.6% of each muscle's maximum, depending on the muscle and the version.¹

This page covers the setup, what the grip and the direction changed, what the studies can't tell you, the faults and where it fits. The same movement with dumbbells or cables is the rear delt fly, and the other light upper-back pull is the face pull.

How to do a band pull-apart

The steps are practical cues; where the study set a detail, it's cited.

1. Pick a light band. The study had each man choose a band that felt like moderate effort, 5 on a 10-point scale, over five reps.¹
2. Hold it at shoulder height with your arms straight in front of you and your hands about shoulder-width apart. The study started every rep with no slack in the band and no stretch on it.¹
3. Pull your hands apart and back until the band reaches your chest, keeping your arms straight and your shoulders down.
4. Let it back slowly. The study used three seconds out and three seconds back.¹

Palms down, thumbs up or palms up

The study tested three hand positions in the same 10 men. Each one moved the work to different muscles:¹

• Palms down drew the most from the back of the shoulder, 13.5% more than palms up and 8.4% more than thumbs up, and more from the upper trapezius than thumbs up.
• Palms up drew the most from the lower trapezius, 13.3% more than palms down, and from the infraspinatus, 11.1% more than palms down.
• The middle trapezius didn't change with the grip.

A practical choice, not a finding: palms down if the back of the shoulder is what you're after, the same reading as the rear delt fly; palms up for the lower trapezius.

Straight across or on a diagonal

The same men also pulled straight across and on two diagonals, the measured arm finishing high (diagonal up) or low (diagonal down).¹

• Diagonal up drew the most from the upper and lower trapezius, more than straight across and more than diagonal down.
• The middle trapezius was more active on the diagonal up and straight across than on the diagonal down.
• The back of the shoulder and the infraspinatus changed with direction overall, but no single pair of directions differed.

The authors point out that the arm moves against gravity on the diagonal up, so the load is higher with the same band.¹

Does your stance matter?

One study tested the pull-apart in five stances in 36 adults aged 18 to 35, half of whom had a forward-head position measured from photographs: standing, standing on one leg, in a squat, in a one-leg squat and in a Bulgarian split squat. The pattern across stances didn't differ between the two groups. Holding a squat drew more middle and lower trapezius activity than standing, and less activity from the upper trapezius relative to the middle trapezius.² As practical advice, not a finding: standing is the usual way to start; the squat stance is a variation if you want one.

What the studies can't tell you

Both studies measured activity over a few reps, not what weeks of pull-aparts build. The first was 10 healthy men, and its authors note that EMG doesn't show the training effects of the exercise.¹ No training study of the band pull-apart was found for this page.

The common faults, and a fix for each

These fixes are practical cues, not findings.

• Shrugging. Keep your shoulders down and away from your ears as you pull.
• Bending the elbows. That makes it a row. Keep your arms straight, or with a slight bend that doesn't change, and pull from the shoulders.
• Leaning back or arching. Brace your stomach; if you have to lean, the band is too strong.
• Snapping back. Let the band return as slowly as you pulled it.
• Pulling through pain. If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, stop and ask a doctor or a physical therapist.

Sets, reps and where it fits

• What the studies used: three reps of each version, to measure activity; not a training plan.¹
• As a practical start: 2 or 3 sets of 15 to 20 with a light band, stopping a few reps short of failure. This is practical advice, not a finding.
• In a warm-up before an upper-body day, as on the warm-up page, or at the end of a pull day next to face pulls.
• At home, it's the band version of the reverse fly in the shoulder workout; the resistance band workout has the rest of a session.

Common questions

Band pull-apart or face pull?

No study comparing them was found for this page. Both are light pulls for the upper back and the back of the shoulder; the face pull adds a turn of the arms. The face pull page has its own studies.

Band pull-apart or reverse fly?

They're the same movement with a different resistance. No study comparing the band with dumbbells or a machine was found for this page. Use the band when that's what you have.

How strong a band?

Light. The study chose bands that felt like moderate effort, 5 on a 10-point scale.¹ If you can't keep your arms straight and your shoulders down, go lighter.

If you'd rather not plan it alone

The pull-apart is easy to learn; deciding where it goes next to your rows, face pulls and presses is the part a page can't do. Coaching is the version where your workouts live in Trainerize, built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one. Coaching to build muscle explains how that works, and here's how to apply. Otherwise: add two sets of 15 pull-aparts, palms down, to your next warm-up.