From Men's Health · Kristine Thomason · · 1m 30s
Shoulder Mobility Test Fix
Stand against wall, hands overhead. Can you lower arms without arching back?
In brief
Stand against wall, hands overhead. Can you lower arms without arching back? Poor shoulder mobility causes back pain and injury; exercises like rows and external rotations improve range of motion. Originally reported by Men's Health.
Shoulder Mobility Test
Stand with back against wall, hands overhead. Can you lower arms while keeping wrists, elbows, and shoulder blades against the wall?
“Stand with your back against a wall, hands overhead, butt, shoulder blades, and wrists against the wall. Can you lower our arms while keeping wrists, elbows, and shoulder blades against the wall? If you can’t, your shoulder mobility needs work.”
Why Shoulder Mobility Matters
Poor shoulder mobility causes back pain and injury; it’s priority number one for fitness results.
“It’s the least sexy topic in fitness, but it’s actually priority number one to get the results you want.”
Shoulder Mobility Test Results
If you arch your back or puff your chest when reaching overhead, your shoulder mobility needs work.
“If you answered both questions with a resounding 'yes,' then there’s a good chance that your shoulder mobility could use work.”
Stealthy Signs of Poor Mobility
Flaring elbows during pushups or arching your back when reaching overhead indicate lack of shoulder mobility.
“Try doing a pushup. Did you flare your elbows, even if you were trying to keep them close to your body?”
Fixing Shoulder Mobility
Train rhomboids and rear delts with dumbbell rows and plank rows to improve shoulder mobility.
“The people with the worst mobility issues, by far, are people who have lots of lifting experience.”
Shoulder External Rotation
Use resistance bands for shoulder external rotation to strengthen shoulders and prepare for upper body exercises.
“Grab a light resistance band and anchor it to something about hip height. Stand with your right shoulder toward the anchor site, and grab the band’s handle with your left hand, elbow at 90 degrees.”
Y Raises for Back Muscles
Do Y raises on a 45-degree incline bench to strengthen smaller back muscles.
“Lie with your chest on a bench set to a 45-degree incline, light dumbbells in your hands, arms hanging naturally. Squeeze your shoulder blades and pull them down to your hips.”
Tracking Progress
Hold 50-pound dumbbells overhead for 30 seconds to test shoulder mobility improvement.
“Hold two 50-pound dumbbells overhead, thumbs facing behind you, dumbbells parallel to each other, arms fully straight, back not arched. Your goal is to hold for 30 seconds.”
Healthy Shoulders Feel Strong
Improved shoulder mobility reduces pain and increases strength in all exercises.
“If you’ve been having light shoulder pain, expect that to diminish as you hone your mobility.”
Shoulder Mobility Benefits
Better shoulder mobility prevents injuries and improves performance in exercises like bench presses and pull-ups.
“Building muscle? Stable, mobile shoulders let you maximize classic exercises like the bench press and pullup.”
The main idea
Poor shoulder mobility causes back pain and injury; exercises like rows and external rotations improve range of motion.
