Shoulders · Bodyweight
Pass Through with Towel
How to do the pass through with towel, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Hold a towel with both hands in a wide overhand grip in front of your hips. Keeping your arms straight, raise the towel overhead and continue back behind your body, then reverse the path to the front. Widen your grip if your shoulders feel tight and keep the motion smooth.
- 1An opening stretch across the chest and front of the shoulders
- 2Straight arms moving in a smooth arc overhead and back
- 3The shoulder blades rotating freely as the towel passes
Common mistakes
- Do not bend the elbows to cheat the towel back
- Avoid arching the lower back as the arms go overhead
- Do not force a grip so narrow that the shoulders pinch
Muscles worked
The pass through with towel works the front delts, mid chest, upper traps, mid traps, lower traps, side delts, rear delts, and external rotators.
- Front DeltsSupport
- Mid ChestSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- Mid TrapsSupport
- Lower TrapsSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
- Rear DeltsSupport
- External RotatorsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Upper ChestMinor
- LatsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Internal RotatorsMinor
Kovo programs the pass through with towel for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More shoulders exercises
- How to do the battle rope alternating waves
- How to do the arm circles
- How to do the arnold press
- How to do the resistance band front raise
- How to do the resistance band lateral raise
- How to do the resistance band overhead press
Last reviewed June 2026.