[miso soup]

that stretch/party trick where you take the stick all the way back behind you

I'm not sure what you mean here either, any videos or pics?  I'm a fan of party tricks but I don't think I know this one.

[robertostallioni]

[miso soup]

Okay I'm going to have to try that at some point.  I don't own a broom...

[lmarenzi]

I can get the bar above me if I take quite a wide grip. By "wide grip" I mean hands almost the full length of the broomstick apart. In this position I can get the feeling that my arms are almost locked back over my head (like in the starting position of that stretch/party trick where you take the stick all the way back behind you) But Bernd The Physio won't allow this, and with a narrower grip I find it exponentially harder.

This is where the two dumbells come in, either get yourself in alignment or your arms give out. Or use 1kg weights and look like a 12 year old girl in the gym. Lots of pretty painful alternatives there, you know its good for you really though

[erm, sam]

Just watched that video, gave it a go and I could do it. Ha, I'm as bendy as a 12 yr old.
Quite hurt my wrists actually.

[rodma]

Really handy website on mobilising crocked/overused joints here:

http://www.mobilitywod.com/

Search for shoulder, elbow, and maybe the hip stuff too (if your hips aren't well positioned at the bottom of the squat then I guess your upper back and shoulders have to do more work).

 

Really good find with that website, i just need a few spare days to watch all of the relevant vids.

I tried this last night and to my surprise my hands are indeed above my feet.

I do think technique has  a lot to do with it. Correct squat position, lower back strength, hip tension and upper back flexibility all contribute a lot to how vertical your upper back is.

Upper back flexibility and hip mobility are the key. I can easily get my upper back vertical if I allow my lower back to curve, but it should be as flat as possible. You'll know if you have pulled your arms back too far (by curving your lower back), cos your rib cage will pop-up and any sort of six-pack will disappear. Best done in front of mirror for this reason.

My lower back is strong and inflexible and that makes it really difficult not to curve it when doing almost anything, let alone weight training. it looks like I am sitting up/standing up straight with great posture, when actually I'm sticking my backside out further than an ape trying to walk on its hind legs.

[erm, sam]

hmm, might be back to the drawing board for me then.. Will have to look at this not too curved lower back aspect.

[miso soup]

http://www.mobilitywod.com/

 

Really good find with that website, i just need a few spare days to watch all of the relevant vids.

I agree.  Being unfamiliar with Crossfit I initially assumed it was an American misspelling of Mobilitywad.

[Rocksteady]

I've been seeing a physio in London for various shoulder tweaks and he has diagnosed the upper thoracic inflexibility in me too.

The starting exercise he has given me is to stand with my back against the wall, and round it so that lower and mid back are flat. Then I have to raise my arms straight above my head until the back of my hands touch the wall - importantly while keeping my back flat the whole time. I'm finding this ridiculously hard. The reason is that my lats are massively overdeveloped and tight in relation to my traps. So the solution is to use this exercise (progressing onto others with weights) to strengthen the traps and rhomboids in the upper back/shoulders while loosening and stretching the lats.

Best thing so far has been hitting the trigger points in my lats with acupuncture needles. Made the whole lat tense up and then relax - made an immediate difference to ease of thoracic stretching and shoulder exercises. 

Worst thing so far was physio taping to lengthen my lats. 'Just leave it on til the weekend' he said. Took it off at the weekend, before my week trip to Catalunya. Ouch. Whole week had two red stripes down my back. Classy. Could have been worse - with the colour of my back if it had been in a cross I would have looked like I had the St George's tattooed on my back. Brits abroad, Brits-a Brits-a Brits abroad!

[shark]

I've been seeing a physio in London for various shoulder tweaks and he has diagnosed the upper thoracic inflexibility in me too.

The starting exercise he has given me is to stand with my back against the wall, and round it so that lower and mid back are flat. Then I have to raise my arms straight above my head until the back of my hands touch the wall - importantly while keeping my back flat the whole time. I'm finding this ridiculously hard. The reason is that my lats are massively overdeveloped and tight in relation to my traps. So the solution is to use this exercise (progressing onto others with weights) to strengthen the traps and rhomboids in the upper back/shoulders while loosening and stretching the lats.

Instead of standing against a wall - try lying on your back as you can relax more and gravity is helping. If you use the yoga trick of breathing in and focussing on relaxing the area of tightness you can sometimes lower the arms further. Another stretching exercise is to lie down with a yoga brick under your upper back as advocated by Steph Davis seems to work. The other thing is to start getting the upper back to do more of the work by praticising mobilising it. Imagine that there is a torch planted in the middle of your chest then get it to point up, then down, left then bottom left then top left then right, bottom right and top right. Good practice if you fancy busking as a mime automaton. 

[Rocksteady]

Instead of standing against a wall - try lying on your back as you can relax more and gravity is helping. If you use the yoga trick of breathing in and focussing on relaxing the area of tightness you can sometimes lower the arms further.

Thanks for this - interesting. The physio did say I could do lying down stretches but I'd preferred the standing stretches as I figured it was better to build strength vs gravity in my traps etc opposing my lats rather than just stretch the lats. Will mix it up and do a bit of both.

[shark]

Thanks for this - interesting. The physio did say I could do lying down stretches but I'd preferred the standing stretches as I figured it was better to build strength vs gravity in my traps etc opposing my lats rather than just stretch the lats. Will mix it up and do a bit of both.

Makes sense - best go with what he/she says. I was just aiming to be able to lie down with straight arms above my head and flat against the floor which I can do now.

[Muenchener]

The overhead squat is an unbeatably awesome bit of exercise.

 Can only do 2 x 7kg with barbells though.
 

Assuming you mean dumbells, I managed a couple of sets with 5kg today - first experiment. Realy felt it in my lower back though - probably arching like crazy to compensate for a total lack of upper back mobility.

Also tried lying prone, with arms outstretched in front of me, and trying to lift weights off the floor. As a result of which I have a new STG: break into the realm of metal-coloured dumbells for this exercise.

[jstrongman]

Was going to start a new thread but i think it relates to this one.

Recently while power endurance training (assisted deadhangs and foot on campusing) I have been getting really intense head aches which are stopping me from pushing into fighting the pump. The pain is either in the back of the skull or over one eye, once i stop the pain goes away pretty quickly <5 minutes. I think it may be due to an in balance with my shoulders and traps. Is there any way to test this out? and has anyone else experienced these sort of head aches while training.

[robertostallioni]

I think it may be this.

"You have some life left. Live it well."

[erm, sam]

I have headaches like this related to tension in my traps/neck though they don't come on during excersise but sometimes when I wake up after a hard (training) session. I think it is related to tension in my Scapular elevator (or something like that) muscle.
I think it is improving as I get better at scap stabilising with my Ws, Ls and Ts. But the improvement could be wishful thinking..