Y-T raises

Who it's for

Climbers who want healthier shoulders, especially those with a lot of steep climbing or overhead moves in their week. Y and T raises train the lower and middle back muscles that hold the shoulder blade in place when your arms are overhead. They need no weight to start, 6 minutes, and they suit every level. If a shoulder hurts now, get a physio to look at it before using this as a fix.

Common mistakes

• Using too much weight. Start with none. Even 1 or 2 kg is plenty, as the catalog says, and heavier just brings in the neck.
• Shrugging. Keep the shoulders away from your ears. If the neck works, lower the arms a little and slow down.
• Lifting the chest off the floor. Keep your body still and let the arms do the lifting. Arching the back makes it look higher and train less.
• Swinging the arms up. Lift slowly and lower slowly. Fast reps skip the part that trains the shoulder.

How to progress

Get three full sets of 8 Y and 8 T raises smooth with no weight. Then add 1 kg, and later 2 kg, holding the top of each rep for a second. Two or three times a week is fine and fits at the end of a climbing session. Once that's easy, do them on an incline bench, which lets you move through a wider range.