Prone Lower Trapezius Strengthening – Bent Arm Overhead

To strengthen the right lower trapezius:

  • The patient is lying prone with their right arm bent and the palm of their right hand lying on the table above their head
  • Have them rest their forehead in the palm of their left hand
  • Instruct the patient to raise their right hand off the table as far as they can keeping their elbow and upper arm resting on the table/floor
  • They hold for 10 seconds and repeat initially 3-5 times increasing to 10 repetitions as they get stronger
  • The patient can be instructed to advance this exercise by raising the entire bent R arm off the table and hold for 10 seconds.
  • Tapping along the origin of the lower trapezius may help the patient “find” the muscle.
  • An alternative position is to have the shoulder abducted to 90 degrees with the elbow flexed to 90 degrees and the elbow resting on the table. From this position the patient externally rotates the shoulder lifting the hand off the table. This isolates the lower trapezius from the upper and middle trapezius better than any other exercise and avoids impingement of the shoulder that can occur in more elevated positions of the humerus (Ekstrom, Donatelli, Soderberg, 2003).
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