Tag: better movement

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Better Movement Series : Shoulder Health

Using a movement approach to muscle and joint health involves exploring the ranges of motion, not going past 2/10 in discomfort and matching your breathing with your movement.

here are my Top 3 Shoulder mobility movements:

>>> Hang from something

>>> Arm Circles – simple circulation works wonders

>>> Supine Trunk Twist – use tension to keep your shoulders on the floor as you rotate your hips

The shoulder is a very complicated part of your body. There are multiple joints, bones and muscles that all connect to more or less the same area on your skeleton. The coordination of all these working parts is called a Rhythm – the Glenohumeral Rhythm or Scapulohumeral Rhythm.

The muscle that gets a lot of attention is the Serratus Anterior – a very sexy muscle that assists in scapular rotation. Getting this muscle working properly is critical for the Glenohumeral rhythm.

>General practice of this scapular rotation and getting the arm to move in coordination with your shoulder blade is also needed.

>The Muscles of your neck – your ‘Traps’ – often need to be DE-activated because they work too much.

>The muscles between the shoulder blades – your Rhomboids – need to be Activated and strengthened because they often are stretched out and weak.

If you practice these things your shoulder range of motion will be pain free. If you include push up, pull ups, overhead presses and the like – your shoulder range of motion will be strong and resilient. When training Overhead exercises there is no need to go to absolute failure: Safety First!

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Better Movement Series : Spine Health

There are numerous ways movement can improve the health of your spine.

Here are some tips when using a movement approach to spinal health

  1. Explore the Range of Motion: the spine can Flex / Extend / Rotate / Lateral Bend + any combination of the four.
  2. Reduce Pain: pain changes how you move, stay a 2 out of 10 in discomfort. Excessive tension should not be used, stay relaxed.
  3. BREATHE: match your breathing with your movement. This increases connection and Flow.

And Remember,
Work from the ground up – Always start with easy exercises on the floor and progress up to more challenging exercises while standing.

Here are my Top 3 spinal mobility movements:

>> 1/2kneeling Lateral Stretch

>> Torso Rotations

>> Jefferson Curl

Here are my Top 3 spinal stability movements:

>> Supine Leg Raise

>> Side Plank

>> Bird Dog

Each of these exercises have “easier” and “harder” variations. I would suggest starting easier than you think, because the time you put into the fundamental exercises will pay off own the road. This is what I mean by starting from the ground up. Once you find your starting place expect to get better every day for the first couple weeks. Eventually however you will have to change it up. Using some kind of test – retest protocol is recommended.

Try this out and let me know how it helps.