STRAIGHT ARM PUSHDOWN

Anchor a band to a high point (over your head) and stand with the handles behind you. Grab the handles and keep your hands at around shoulder-width with your arms extended down at your sides. Let your shoulders shrug to allow the handles to rise, keeping your arms extended. Then, contract your lower traps to pull your shoulder blades down as low as possible (the range of motion will be relatively short). Hold this position for a second as you focus on contracting your lower traps, then allow the handles and your shoulders to rise back up to the start position. Repeat for reps.

A.K.A. One-Arm Straight-Arm Pushdown

Attach a D-handle or stirrup handle to a cable fairly high on the column - so that the handle hangs above hip height. Stand in front of the cable column with the handle at your side and grasp it with one hand. Keeping your arm extended throughout, start with that shoulder shrugged up. From here, pull down with your lower traps to bring your shoulder and hand down as far as possible (shoulder depression, whereas the shrugged position is shoulder elevation). Slowly reverse the motion to bring the shoulder back up. Repeat all reps with that side, then switch sides. Do this exercise with a relatively slow, controlled tempo. The objective is to isolate and train the lower trapezius, a muscle most people aren't used to isolating. Work on developing a strong mind-muscle connection to the lower traps with this controlled rep speed.

A.K.A. Straight-Arm Pushdown

Attach a long straight-bar attachment (such as a lat pulldown bar) to the high cable on a cable crossover station. Lower the pulley so that the bar hangs about 4-6 inches above your waist. Stand with the bar behind you and place your hands on the bar with an overhand grip and spaced about shoulder width. Straighten your arms completely and maintain straight arms throughout the exercise. Allow the bar to rise as high as possible behind you while maintaining straight arms. Contract your lower traps to pull your shoulder blades down as low as possible. Hold this position for a second as you focus on contracting your lower traps as much as possible. Then allow the bar and your shoulder blades to rise back up to the start position and repeat for reps.Step 2Step 3