Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch

Muscles worked by the Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch

Primary

Rear DeltsPosterior Deltoid

Secondary

RhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

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

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch

1. Stand tall and bring one straight arm across your chest.
2. Hook your other forearm under it.
3. Gently pull the arm closer to your chest.
4. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing steadily.
5. Switch sides and repeat.

Form tips

• Keep the stretching shoulder down, not shrugged.
• Do not pull on the elbow joint itself.

At a glance

Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch in German & Spanish

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

Related exercises

• Band Pull Apart
• Banded Rear Delt Stretch
• Barbell Rear Delt Row
• Cable External Rotation
• Cable Face Pull
• 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": "cross-body-shoulder-stretch",
  "name_en": "Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch",
  "name_de": "Schulterdehnung über den Körper",
  "name_es": "Estiramiento de Hombro Cruzado",
  "description_en": "A standing stretch that targets the rear shoulder by drawing one arm horizontally across the chest.",
  "description_de": "Eine stehende Dehnung für die hintere Schulter, bei der ein Arm waagerecht über die Brust gezogen wird.",
  "description_es": "Un estiramiento de pie para el hombro posterior llevando un brazo en horizontal sobre el pecho.",
  "category": "stretching",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "shoulders",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "posterior_deltoid"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "mobility"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "mobility",
    "stretching"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": true,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand tall and bring one straight arm across your chest.",
    "Hook your other forearm under it.",
    "Gently pull the arm closer to your chest.",
    "Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing steadily.",
    "Switch sides and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stehe aufrecht und führe einen gestreckten Arm über die Brust.",
    "Hake den anderen Unterarm darunter ein.",
    "Ziehe den Arm sanft näher zur Brust.",
    "Halte 20 bis 30 Sekunden und atme ruhig weiter.",
    "Wechsle die Seite und wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Párate erguido y cruza un brazo estirado sobre el pecho.",
    "Engancha el otro antebrazo por debajo.",
    "Tira suavemente del brazo hacia el pecho.",
    "Mantén de 20 a 30 segundos, respirando de forma constante.",
    "Cambia de lado y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep the stretching shoulder down, not shrugged.",
    "Do not pull on the elbow joint itself."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die gedehnte Schulter unten, nicht hochgezogen.",
    "Ziehe nicht direkt am Ellbogengelenk."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén el hombro estirado abajo, sin encogerlo.",
    "No tires de la articulación del codo en sí."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "main": "images/flat/cross-body-shoulder-stretch-main.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 === "cross-body-shoulder-stretch");

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.