A common cue, and what I mean when I say it.
You may hear me say "shoulders back and down." You've also heard it in yoga, Pilates, physical therapy, and from a parent at the dinner table. In most of those places it means pull your shoulder blades (scapulae) toward your spine and keep them there. That isn't what I mean.
What the short version gets right
Many people carry their shoulders forward and up (called protraction and elevation), with the shoulder blades (scapulae) sliding away from the spine and toward the ears. It's common with desk work, driving, and phone use, and it often comes with tension in the neck and upper back. Telling someone to bring the shoulders back and down is a reasonable attempt at undoing it.
In one study of 20 healthy people, directing the position of the shoulder blades reduced the load on the upper trapezius (the muscle running from the side of the neck out to the top of the shoulder) and improved neck posture. Twenty people is a small group, and one study doesn't settle a question like this. I give more weight to what I've seen over decades of teaching and practicing it, which is what the rest of this post covers.
What the short version leaves out
Most people hear the cue as a pull: squeeze the shoulder blades together and hold them there. Pulled hard, some clinicians argue, "back and down" can backfire. Dragging the blades down tips them into downward rotation (the bottom tips of the blades swing in toward the spine). That narrows the space under the collarbone (the costoclavicular space) and has been associated with neck pain and shoulder impingement (pinching of tissue in the shoulder). Others point out that over-pulling the shoulders back often pushes the lower ribs forward (rib flare) and arches the spine at the thoracolumbar junction (where the rib cage meets the low back).
Given these factors, I treat "back and down" as a cue to use with care. Pulling the shoulder blades down and back changes more than the shoulders. It changes the space around the collarbone, the work of the neck muscles, and the position of the ribs and low back. The cue itself only names a direction. It doesn't say how far, how long, or what the neck, ribs, and low back should do while you move.
Where it came from
The phrase comes from several places at once. In physical therapy and fitness, it's the standard correction for rounded shoulders. In strength training, it's a setup cue for rows and pulldowns, where trainers are also warned not to pull the shoulder blades back before the arms have started to move. In yoga, it shows up in Mountain pose and other standing poses, usually next to "broaden the collarbones" and "lift the chest."
Iyengar-style teaching often uses those same ideas: the collarbones widen, the shoulder blades draw into the back, and the chest lifts. The emphasis is on width and lift across the front of the body, where a plain "pull back" has none.
So you may have heard this cue in four different rooms, with a slightly different meaning in each.
What I actually cue
When I say "shoulders back and down," it's one piece of a longer instruction: lengthen the sides of the neck, move the shoulders away from the ears, and spread the collarbones (clavicles).
"Back" means the shoulders open and broaden across the front of the chest. It doesn't mean squeezing the blades together (retraction). "Down" means the shoulders release away from the ears so the neck can be long, and the upper trapezius (the muscle along the top of the shoulder) lets go. It's a release with no muscular pull behind it.
The neck and collarbone cues are what the short version leaves out. Length in the sides of the neck gives the shoulders somewhere to drop away from. Spread collarbones keep the chest open, so the shoulders aren't dragged back by effort. Together they describe space around the neck and chest, and they don't ask you to hold a position.
Then check the ribs and low back. When the chest lifts, the lower ribs often open and jut forward, and the lumbar spine (the low back) increases its inward curve (lordosis). If that happens, the movement didn't start at the shoulders. The chest looks lifted because the low back arched, which makes it an artificial lift. A real change in shoulder position leaves the lower ribs where they were and keeps the low back long.
These cues help me keep the ribs and low back in place. Let the front of the lower ribs settle down toward the hips, without forcing them in. Keep the low back long and not arched. Then breathe into the back ribs, the ones behind and beside your lower lungs, and feel them widen as you inhale. If the breath only fills the front of the chest, or the ribs poke forward, the lift is coming from the low back.
If you can't breathe fully while you're doing it, it's too much.
Try This
Two minutes, standing or seated, with your arms hanging. This is a gentle test. Use light effort throughout and never force a position.
Who should try it: people whose neck and shoulders are generally comfortable. If you have current neck, shoulder, or arm pain, numbness or tingling, a recent injury or surgery, or movement restrictions from a clinician, skip it or check with your clinician first.
Shrug your shoulders up toward your ears, then let them drop. Notice where they land.
Now do the pulled version, gently. Draw your shoulder blades back and down with light effort, enough to feel the position and no more.
Rest one hand on the front of your lower ribs and the other on your low back. Check three things: do your lower ribs push forward into your hand, does your low back arch, and does your neck tighten or your breath get shorter? If placing your hands is awkward, go by feel, or ask someone to look from the side.
Release it. Lengthen the sides of your neck, as if your head were getting taller. Let your shoulders slide away from your ears. Widen across your collarbones.
Keep your hands where they are and check again. Let the front of your lower ribs settle down toward your hips and keep your low back long. If your ribs jut forward or your low back arches as your chest lifts, the lift came from your low back, so make the movement smaller.
Take three slow breaths into your back ribs. Feel them widen behind and beside you as you inhale and soften as you exhale. Your shoulders should feel wide and heavy, and your neck should feel long.
Stop right away if you feel pinching, tingling, or numbness in your hands or arms, or any pain in your neck or shoulders.
What backs this up
Here is where each part comes from.
Supported by research: Cueing shoulder-blade position changes how hard the neck and shoulder muscles work. In one study of 20 healthy people, it reduced the load on the upper trapezius (the muscle running from the side of the neck to the top of the shoulder) and improved neck posture.
Reported by clinicians: Pulling the blades hard down and back narrows the space under the collarbone, adds tension in the neck, and pushes the lower ribs forward. These reports come from anatomy and clinical experience, and I found no trials that test them.
From my own teaching and practice: I've taught and practiced this version for decades, and I can see and feel the difference between it and the pulled version. That experience is why I teach it this way.
In the meantime, treat the cue as a direction with limits, check the ribs and low back, and take neck pain or tingling in your arms to a clinician before you change anything.