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Reverse Y-Raises

Lying face down, you raise both arms forward and outward into a 'Y' with thumbs pointing up, lifting light dumbbells or just your hands against gravity. The target is the lower trapezius — the hardest region of the upper back to reach — which anchors your shoulder blades for every press and lift overhead. Coached by Maddy (NASM-CPT) — these are the exact form cues he gives on every client's first week.

Muscles worked

Lower traps · lower trapezius Rear shoulders · posterior deltoid Mid back · rhomboids Lower back · erector spinae

Sets & reps by goal

Goal	Sets × Reps	Rest
Strength	4 sets x 4-6 reps with a 3-sec top hold	90 sec
Muscle	3 sets x 9-12 reps	60-90 sec
Endurance	2-3 sets x 18-27 reps	30-45 sec

Level — Beginner

Beginner in load, advanced in precision — most first-timers need bodyweight only, and the shrug habit takes deliberate unlearning.

Proper form — 5 cues

Lie face down with arms extended overhead at roughly 30 degrees out from your ears — the Y shape.
Turn the thumbs toward the ceiling before either arm lifts.
Raise both arms by drawing the shoulder blades down toward your hips first.
Lift only until the arms are level with your ears — no higher.
Hold two seconds at the top, then lower slowly without resting the hands between reps.

Breathing: Exhale as the arms float up into the Y, inhale as they lower under control.

The 3 mistakes Maddy corrects most

Shrugging the shoulders toward the ears while lifting.. Shrugging hands the movement to the upper traps, which are already dominant in most people — the exact imbalance the Y raise exists to fix. Fix: Start every rep by sliding the shoulder blades down and back, and imagine tucking them into your back pockets as the arms rise.

Using dumbbells that would suit a rowing exercise.. The lower traps lift on a long lever with terrible mechanics — even one or two kilograms can be demanding, and heavier loads recruit everything else. Fix: Begin with no weight at all; add half-kilogram or one-kilogram dumbbells only after two-second top holds become easy.

Arching the lower back to gain arm height.. Extra height from lumbar extension looks like range but bypasses the shoulder blade motion entirely. Fix: Keep the breastbone and hip bones heavy on the floor, and accept the modest arc that honest lower-trap work produces.

Common questions

Why does the Y position matter so much?

The roughly 130-degree arm angle lines the pull up with the fibre direction of the lower trapezius, which runs diagonally from your mid-spine up to the shoulder blade. Raise the arms straight ahead and other muscles lead; raise them straight out sideways and the middle traps take over. The Y is not stylistic — it is aiming.

What do reverse Y raises actually improve?

Shoulder-blade control. The lower traps rotate and depress the scapula so your arm can travel overhead without the shoulder pinching, and they counterbalance the upper traps that dominate desk posture. Stronger lower traps commonly show up as smoother overhead pressing and less of that end-of-day tightness across the top of the shoulders.

Can I do Y raises on an incline bench instead of the floor?

Yes — chest down on a 30 to 45 degree incline is arguably the better version once floor raises feel easy, because the arms can travel through a longer arc before the floor interrupts. The floor version remains the more convenient teacher: it fixes your torso completely and stops the lower back from secretly joining in.

Related exercises

T-Raise (Modified)Lower traps · Rear shoulders T-RaisesLower traps · Rear shoulders Y-RaiseLower traps · Rear shoulders Prone RowsRear shoulders Rope Face PullRear shoulders · Mid back

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