I’ve been neglecting them more than I should. Recently started incorporating wide-grip cable rows and I’m thinking of adding batwing rows. Any other good suggestions?
chest supported rows, but if your mid back is underdeveloped I’ll bet a great many US dollars it’s your mid/lower traps that need work, not your rhomboids
I have the same problem and plan to do a ton of wide grip barbell rows in my next training cycle. I’ve been avoiding them for years, lol. If it’s the mid to lower traps then wide grip pull-ups should work well.
Mid Upper back is my least mind - muscle connected place ever, what works for me most are,
Static Y-T-L holds, both weighted and un weighted, especially the Y position
Prone Trap Raises
Inverted rows with a sec of pause while contracted
Bret Contreras wrote a very recent article about using back muscles while chin ups, i tried and seems to work for the middle
[quote]Yogi wrote:
chest supported rows, but if your mid back is underdeveloped I’ll bet a great many US dollars it’s your mid/lower traps that need work, not your rhomboids[/quote]
I love chest-supported rows and incorporate them into my training fairly regularly! I guess it’s underdeveloped to the extent that I have a slight postural imbalance that I want to fix, although I’ve been told my back thickness is a reasonably strong point. Not a major enough problem to cause any issues, but I don’t want it to get there in the first place. Also aware that my external rotators are terribly weak and are likely contributing to this.
Those prone shrugs look really interesting, I think I’ll give them a shot.
I didn’t notice the bar was sliding against the rack posts at first. Now it makes sense why the lower traps are really working, lol.
Very heavy rear delt raises 5x5 etc, makes my shoulders feel great also
I’m wearing the same pants as John Meadows right now. For a second, I was like how did they get me on camera?
If you’re mid/upper back (rhomboids, lower traps, extenal rotators, whatever they are) are really messed up, you can hit them 2-3 times every day at home with stuff like scap pushups, band pull aparts, band or broomstick dislocates. Even stretching your pecs will help.
On upper body days at the gym, warm up with Scarecrows, or Y/T/L’s, or prone trap raises, or bat wings, or seated dumbbell cleans, or face pulls. All these moves kinda do the same thing. Pick one or 2 that you can really “feel” and do a few sets to get going, before your real lifts. This should help you get set up for bench pressing. And improve your stroke on overhead pressing.
Whenever you do rows, remember Meadows squeezing his shoulder blades together. Do that. Then focus on getting your elbows behind your back. Don’t worry about rowing the handle/implement to your chest. Think about getting the elbows back and puffing your chest forward, using the mid-back muscles.
I’ve been using a chest supported, seated iso-row machine. I remove the seat, and row standing up. Then I try to recreate my bench press arch, rowing and arching my chest into the pad. I got this from Eric Spoto. I was able to start really light and get the “feel” I was after.
[quote]FlatsFarmer wrote:
If you’re mid/upper back (rhomboids, lower traps, extenal rotators, whatever they are) are really messed up, you can hit them 2-3 times every day at home with stuff like scap pushups, band pull aparts, band or broomstick dislocates. Even stretching your pecs will help. [/quote]
Can’t externally rotate the shoulder or do straight overhead movements (incline is fine) without pain in my shoulder. I’m going to have to rest up that shoulder for a little longer before I can start working on my external rotators.
Yogi, do you rec more lat pull downs, pull ups, assisted pull ups? Vs rows?
[quote]isis07734 wrote:
Yogi, do you rec more lat pull downs, pull ups, assisted pull ups? Vs rows?[/quote]
depends what you’re trying to accomplish, mate. Are you trying to do something specific? Ideally you would do all of those exercises
Thanks for replying Yogi,
Mostly looking to keep my shoulders healthy. I only recently got a gym membership but have been doing pulls ups at home prior to that. The row used to be one of my favorite exercise bc I felt it was so functional. And I had decent weight 
But now, at the gym they have the assisted pull up machine, so with my BW assisted up I am able to play with the angles… got a good rhomboid AND lat work out. Way better than just BW pulls ups!
Guess it really depends on what hurts/ the location of labrum tear etc. Good to think out loud tho, it helps, thanks!!
[quote]Apoklyps wrote:
Can’t externally rotate the shoulder or do straight overhead movements (incline is fine) without pain in my shoulder. I’m going to have to rest up that shoulder for a little longer before I can start working on my external rotators.[/quote]
Can you do face pulls? For sets of 8-10 with a legit 5-count pause at peak contraction each rep, they’re great for the shoulder girdle/postural muscles.