The Band Pull-apart also known as the BPA is a great exercise that must be in your program for the reasons listed below. The exercise is very straightforward as far as the instructions go because all you have to really do try your best to pull the band apart and then squeeze your upper back once your body looks like a T while your posture is perfectly upright.
Here are 6 reasons why you should make this exercise a staple.
1) ONE OF THE BEST WARM-UP/PUMP/UPPER BACK ACTIVATION DRILLS YOU CAN DO.
First things first, the BPA is a great exercise to do for warm-ups before the workout because it activates certain muscles in the upper back which sets a good mood for the workout. The fact that it is a great warm-up exercise doesn’t take away from the fact that the exercise could still be done during a workout with a heavier band or even on off days as well.
2) AMAZING UPPER BACK AND REAR DELT EXERCISE.
The upper back and rear delts get worked a lot during different variations of BPA’s and this is good because those are the lagging muscle groups of many people and they can also handle a lot more volume and frequency than you think because the upper back tends to recover quickly for the most part.
3) THEY HELP KEEP YOUR SHOULDERS HEALTHY.
I mentioned above that the BPA trains the rear delts along with the upper back and this means that it will help keep the shoulders healthy because if you are bench pressing with a stronger and more stable back foundation then you are much more likely to prevent shoulder injuries. Of course the BPA’s alone won’t do that much for helping you prevent getting shoulder pain, but if you are doing a lot of rack pulls and rowing variations then they could be a phenomenal addition.
4) ONE OF THE BEST BAND EXERCISES FOR IMPROVING YOUR POSTURE.
Not only is the BPA a great upper back exercise that helps prevent certain shoulder injuries, but it is also a great movement for improving your posture as well. You will notice that by doing a lot of BPA’s with a variety of grips and hand placements that your posture will slowly start to improve. Your chest will start to stick out more, you will look noticeably wider and your chin will be more tucked.
5) THEY ARE RELATIVELY EASY TO RECOVER FROM SO YOU COULD ABUSE THE VOLUME + FREQUENCY.
Since the exercise is done with a band or bands and isn’t that hard on the joints or CNS, the volume and frequency could be increased. Not to forget that the upper back and rear delts tend to recovery fairly fast in most cases which makes it a good lift to do often.
6) THE TECHNIQUE IS FAIRLY EASY AND STRAIGHTFORWARD TO LEARN WITH AN EXTREMELY LOW INJURY RATE.
Since the technique is so simple to lean, this could be a great exercise for coaches to give their clients because the learning curve isn’t that difficult.
7) THE EQUIPMENT YOU NEED FOR THIS EXERCISE ONLY REQUIRES THAT YOU HAVE A BAND.
One of the best things about this exercise is that you can do it with a band which means that if you are away from the gym and on vacation or something like that then you can throw the band in your back (bands are usually as light as a feather and barely take up any space and you can get some upper back work it on the go.
I personally have a few bands in my room and sometimes when I am in my room and I get bored I will just do a couple of high rep sets just because the band is right there and I like how the exercise makes my shoulders feel good as well.
CONCLUSION:
So there you have it, there are just too many benefits to this exercise to skip out on so you might as well just make it a staple in your program for warm-ups, off days, pump work or something along those lines, the important thing is that you just incorporate it!