Instructions: Pull your arm across your body while also pulling your shoulder blade back. Think of it as the gateway to the rest of the exercises. A person with healthy shoulders is able to reach straight overhead without pain, and without having to arch their back or flare their ribs. Keeping the arms back in line with your body, slowly and under control, reach up sideways to overhead, like making a snow angel. Pull your shoulder back and slowly lower your hand towards your feet as far down as you can without lifting your shoulder off of the ground. If your upper back is stiff, or if your scapula can’t move, you’ll limit your total shoulder mobility. Be careful not to push this stretch too much. Moore, K. L., & Dalley, A. F. (2006). How Much Sugar Should You Eat? Strength train through a full range of motion, but be careful in extreme end-range positions where your shoulder is fully stretched out, as it gets weaker at all of its extended positions. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Lie on your back with your elbow raised at shoulder height. The closer you can get your hands together, the more mobile your shoulders are. Full movement (and especially retraction of your shoulder blade) is vital to creating a full wind-up, which helps to unleash and transfer all of the power from your body into your arm. Bonus: Perform an active lower trapezius strengthening exercise in this position. Comments are closed 30 days from the publication date. © 2020 BuiltLean LLC | All rights reserved. Remember – if you don’t use it, you lose it. As always, make sure keep your shoulders away from your ears and your upper trapezius relaxed. Howley, E. T., & Franks, B. D. (2007). These movements require full overhead mobility, and you’re at a high risk of injury if you perform them with poor form and technique. If you want to increase your shoulder range-of-motion, incorporate these exercises into your warm-up and cool-down routine. Not to be underestimated, poor posture (link) plays a huge role in limiting your shoulder mobility. People that lift weights a lot, or do a lot of pulling movements (for example, rock climbers), tend to have strong and possibly tight latissimus dorsi muscles. The affected arm should not be doing any of the movement. After ensuring proper movement, add resistance via gravity or light cables. Focus On Shoulder Flexibility To Increase Power. These reinforce the fibrous layer of the joint capsule of the GH joint, as well as help with movements. Lie lengthwise on a long towel roll placed along the mid-back at the most marked curvature or on a foam roller. In addition, forward head posture pulls on your rhomboids and your levator scapula. Almost all of the rotator cuff muscles help with the rotation of the arm, except for the supraspinatus. Engage your lower core muscles to keep the lower back in neutral. A well-designed, proper warm-up can help you achieve (and maintain) optimal flexibility. Instructions: When your pec muscles are tight, they pull the scapula forward and prevent it from going back into a retracted and posterior tilted position. Instead of a long hold, you can also do slow, controlled movements with a short pause at the top. Your feet slightly away from the wall and your arms straight at shoulder level with palms facing upward. The rounding of the low back will tighten the lats on the inferior attachment, and the arms above your head with palms up will tighten the lats on the other end. The posterior rotator cuff can get tight with excessive use and poor posture. For instance, try throwing a ball as far as you can without moving or turning your trunk. Reach out below! When your shoulders roll forward, you increase the tension along the rotator cuff, which can lead to chronic tightness. Nieman, D. C. (2011). Do 3 x 30 seconds. While all the moves on this list will help loosen your shoulders, relieve tension, and increase flexibility, this should be your first stop. If you want to increase your shoulder range-of-motion, incorporate these exercises into your warm-up and cool-down routine. If you feel a strain in your shoulder when extending your arm up by your ear, then you should avoid exercises like a basic military press or snatch.