I was looking for exercises to target and strengthen my rhomboids and scapula muscles any help would be greatly appreciated
you might try seated cable rows to the neck, wide grip pullups, scapula retractions on a cable rowing machine. Hope that helps.
Romboids job is to pull the shoulder girdle back towards the center of the spine so wide grip cable rows and bentover rows can hit the romboids at the ‘top’ of the lift. Wide grip chins, pulldowns, etc. may not be eccentric enough.
check out paul chek’s articles in t-mag. he wrote a great one about shrugs and their many benifits to these two muscle groups. great article. you could just search his name at this sight and it should would work
The key here is to achieve and be strict
with the full contraction in rowing movements.
Most guys get to the top position by momentum and then instantly let the weight fall right back. This is no good. Instead, keep the speed moderate enough so that you have to actually pull hard to get all the way back, at which point your shoulderblades are pulled together and your back is arched, and your chest stuck
out like you’re a fitness contestant trying
to stick out her boobs. Hold that for two seconds, then make sure the first several inches of the negative (lowering) are quite slow, first being done by letting the shoulderblades spread, and then do the rest of the negative at the planned speed.
Also get a good stretch at the bottom of the
movement, and after the last rep of the last
set, hold that stretch for 15 seconds.
Lay face down on an incline bench set at about 30 degrees. Use light dumbells and do reverse flys. Key is to REALLY focus on the rhomboids and scapula so you can minimize the involvement of the posterior deltoid. I really like doing 1 and 1/3s with this movement because it forces you to focus on the upper part of the movement where those muscles are really working. This really works for me.