Band Pull Apart

Muscles worked by the Band Pull Apart

Primary

Rear DeltsPosterior Deltoid

Secondary

RhomboidsRhomboid MusclesTrapsTrapezius

Also called: rear deltoid, posterior delt, rear delt, back delt, posterior deltoid.

Equipment

Resistance Band

Also called: power band, pull-up band, assistance band, tube band, tubing band, long resistance band.

How to do the Band Pull Apart

1. Stand holding a light resistance band with both hands, arms extended straight in front at shoulder height.
2. Hands start shoulder-width apart, palms facing down.
3. Keeping arms straight, pull the band apart by driving the hands out to the sides.
4. Finish with the band touching your chest and the shoulder blades squeezed together.
5. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.

Form tips

• Lead the movement with the little fingers — this externally rotates the shoulders.
• Use a band light enough to do 15–30 clean reps; this is a high-rep prehab exercise.

At a glance

Band Pull Apart in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Rear Delt Stretch
• Barbell Rear Delt Row
• Cable External Rotation
• Cable Face Pull
• Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch
• Double Kettlebell Rear Delt Row
• Dumbbell Reverse Fly
• Puppy Pose

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "band-pull-apart",
  "name_en": "Band Pull Apart",
  "name_de": "Band-Pull-Apart",
  "name_es": "Separación de Banda Elástica",
  "description_en": "A high-volume rear delt and scapular retractor exercise performed by pulling a resistance band apart at shoulder height.",
  "description_de": "Eine hochvolumige Übung für den hinteren Deltamuskel und die Schulterblatt-Retraktoren – ein Widerstandsband wird auf Schulterhöhe auseinandergezogen.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de alto volumen para el deltoides posterior y los retractores escapulares que se realiza separando una banda elástica a la altura de los hombros.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "resistance_band",
  "body_part": "shoulders",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "posterior_deltoid"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "rhomboids",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "rehabilitation"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "pull_day",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand holding a light resistance band with both hands, arms extended straight in front at shoulder height.",
    "Hands start shoulder-width apart, palms facing down.",
    "Keeping arms straight, pull the band apart by driving the hands out to the sides.",
    "Finish with the band touching your chest and the shoulder blades squeezed together.",
    "Return slowly to the starting position and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stehe und halte ein leichtes Widerstandsband mit beiden Händen, Arme gerade auf Schulterhöhe nach vorne gestreckt.",
    "Hände starten schulterbreit, Handflächen zeigen nach unten.",
    "Halte die Arme gestreckt und ziehe das Band auseinander, indem du die Hände seitlich nach außen führst.",
    "Beende die Bewegung, wenn das Band die Brust berührt und die Schulterblätter zusammengezogen sind.",
    "Kehre langsam zur Ausgangsposition zurück und wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Párate sosteniendo una banda elástica ligera con ambas manos, brazos extendidos al frente a la altura de los hombros.",
    "Las manos comienzan a la anchura de los hombros, palmas mirando hacia abajo.",
    "Manteniendo los brazos extendidos, separa la banda llevando las manos hacia los lados.",
    "Termina con la banda tocando el pecho y los omóplatos juntos.",
    "Vuelve lentamente a la posición inicial y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Lead the movement with the little fingers — this externally rotates the shoulders.",
    "Use a band light enough to do 15–30 clean reps; this is a high-rep prehab exercise."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Führe die Bewegung mit den kleinen Fingern an – das dreht die Schultern nach außen.",
    "Verwende ein leichtes Band für 15–30 saubere Wiederholungen; das ist eine Präventivübung mit hohem Volumen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Lidera el movimiento con los meñiques: esto rota externamente los hombros.",
    "Usa una banda lo suficientemente ligera para hacer 15-30 repeticiones limpias; es un ejercicio preventivo de alto número de repeticiones."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/band-pull-apart-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/band-pull-apart-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "band-pull-apart");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.