[Muenchener]

I did some mobility checks with the physio at my office gym yesterday. He knows I'm a climber and work in an office, so it was no surprise to either of us that I did not score in the "healthy" range for shoulders.

He says, however, that two to three months of diligent stretching, foam rolling and therabanding can fix it. I doubt this

Here's the test he showed me, and the metric that I'm going to track:

At the bottom position of a broomstick overhead squat, the broomstick should be above the feet. And not - as just measured by my lovely wife - 29cm in front of them. Or, after 20 minutes of diligent stretching, foam rolling and therabanding, 28cm. Which I'm calling well within the range of experimental error.

The details: feet parallel 30cm apart. Hands on the broomstick 60cm apart. Measurement from the tips of the big toes, by a plumbline from the front edge of the broomstick.

[Johnny Brown]

So straight arms, as far up/ back as you can take them without bending?

[Muenchener]

Exactly

[nik at work]

Any pictures? I'm struggling to understand exactly what you mean.

[robertostallioni]

[nik at work]

Kirsty has been talking about making a Death Star pinata.

[Johnny Brown]

Heels on the floor? I can just about get there... tried yoga?

[robertostallioni]

I need to see a picture. I haven't a clue whats going on. 

[Sasquatch]

 

That might get me to yoga. 

[robertostallioni]

I can do this, but frankly its piss.

[Muenchener]

Any pictures? I'm struggling to understand exactly what you mean.

This is the movement:



(but with the stance and grip narrower than this guy is doing and the feet parallel)

The stick/bar at the bottom position should be directly over the feet. In my case it isn't, and I'm seeing if I can improve that. I'm measuring the distance between a string hanging vertically from the stick and the tips of my toes.

[biscuit]

More importantly what were the exercises he gave you to do ?

Don't just let us all find out that we're massively immobile and then leave us hanging 

[fried]

Yeah, show us the money. I know I have the same problem 'cos when I try to do that thing where you stand against a wall and do 'snow angels' raising your arms up i find difficulty in even moving them.

A quick try of your test unsuprisingly  reveals that  my hands are over my thighs somewhere. I'll get the missus to measure it later.

[lmarenzi]

The overhead squat is an unbeatably awesome bit of exercise. I do it to increase flexibility in the hips, but can always feel it in the shoulders and back too.

As you have found out its easy to cheat with the broomstick but once you add a bit of weight, you either keep the bar directly above you or fail.

I started doing sets of 15 with the broomstick and slowly added weight, up to about 25 kg now, although if moving up with weight I might not complete a full set if I start feeling myself losing form and/or balance. Can only do 2 x 7kg with barbells though. I think the pros work up to 15 x bodyweight, so plenty of room for further improvement.

Don't knacker yourself with too much weight at the beginning though, and don't forget to keep your heels in and on the ground. And don't drop the bar on yourself or your collection of rare LPs or anything.

I very much doubt you need special stretches or flexibility to get going on this.

After all, this IS the stretch exercise.

[erm, sam]

I have noticed improvements doing wall squats with straight arms above head, as though gripping a bar. It forces the upper back to really stretch in opposition to kehopsis or what ever it is called which is a usually a good thing for climbers and helps to push the arms further back when above head. I have worked up from struggling to do 2 to being able to do 7x10, all with no weight but a lot of improvement in back flexibility.

These would definatly help. I tried quiet a few things I found on Mountain Athlete such as the 'ultimate shoulder stretch" but they were way to strong and hurt rather.

[Fiend]

I'll get the missus to measure it later.

You aiming for 28cm too??

[fried]

What is that in metric?

[slackline]

What is that in metric?

28cm ?

[fried]

Correct, now what is it in imperial?

[Sasquatch]

Correct, now what is it in imperial?

11 Inches....

 really hard not to go down the wrong path here.....

[hamsforlegs]

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).

I've found some success in improving my shoulder and squat mechanics with his stuff in the last few weeks, but I haven't tried your test specifically. Sounds like a tough measure!

[miso soup]

I think the pros work up to 15 x bodyweight

Was that supposed to be 1.5?  Or do you mean 15 reps at 1 x bodyweight? I can do it, even with my knackered shoulder the string ends up on my toe, but I don't fancy trying it with 15 times my bodyweight above my head...

[lmarenzi]

Yeah, meant 15 reps with bodyweight above your head.

Disclaimer: only the result of some random late night internet browsing, there is a video of a girl doing it somewhere though so presumably it's not completely impossible ...

[erm, sam]

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 and thus to how far back your arms are. I think technique might make more difference in the short term than passive stetches or rolling. Perhaps you could post a side view of yourself in side view so e.g. FD or Mark S (and any of the other 'brothers of iron") could offer general criticism.

My experience is very limited though as I am have only just worked up to 5x10 wall squats with arms in a Y above head with no weights in my hands, so I am far from knowledgeable.

[Muenchener]

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.

More importantly what were the exercises he gave you to do ?

Lat & pec stretches the usual.

Strengthening exercises: arm circles overhead with reistance from e.g. a theraband pulling forward & down. And straight arm rows, pulling the shoulderblades together & down without bending the elbows (think almost the opposite of weighted shoulder shrugs)

If doing pullups he recommended dynamic rather than static, and really going into full arm extension at the bottom - but I see no real need to do pullups much at the moment anyway, except a few short sets as a warm up for fingerboarding.

And: calf stretches. I was pretty complacent about my calf/hamstring flexbility, having done dozens of sun salutations a day in my ashtanga years. But I have to admit to myself that that was some time ago now. Hips I think are ok; I can sit around pretty comfortably in a deep squat position as long as I don't have to lift my arms above horizontal.