Lack of shoulder flexibility

sodakat

So, I finally met with a trainer so I could start lifting. He covered a lot of options for me as far as how to work areas of my body. I just want to retain what strength I have and improve. I've always felt "strong" in that I could pick up my end of the couch when moving furniture and carry it to the truck, lift heavy rocks when working on landscaping our yard, lift one end of a very large fish tank, etc. I've taught my now adult daughters that strong women are cool, and they should do as much for themselves as possible. But, over the last 10 years or so (I'm 64) I've noticed it is more difficult for me to do some of these things. Damn that ticks me off.

So, back to the lifting instructions. One of the things I knew I wanted to do, and the trainer agreed I should, is squats. Well guess what. My damn shoulders are not as flexible as they need to be to grab the bar behind my neck and lift it. Holy crap was that an eye opener. I can force myself to do it but it takes lots of effort and I'm not sure how coordinated I would be getting it up properly. Squatting was no problem and he was surprised I could keep my back in the correct position but the lack of shoulder flexibility hinders the entire process.

So, he suggested I work on increasing shoulder mobility. I maybe should add at this point that about 2 years ago I injured my left shoulder in an accidental slip off a ladder while I was up in some rafters installing insulation. I hung by my armpits, and ended up doing some damage to my rotator cuff which took 9 months or more to heal. For a while I had to use my right hand to lift my left hand onto my head to shampoo my hair, for example.

The exercise he suggested for shoulder mobility is using small free weights while kneeling on a bench, bent over, with one hand on the bench. Lift the weights with arm extended to the side, to about shoulder height, while keeping elbow straight. I can tell that does help but I don't think it is enough.

So, I found this online: http://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-improve-shoulder-flexibility-and-mobility/

•Stand with your back and heels against a flat wall.
•Extend your arms straight out to your sides, with your palms facing out (the backs of your hands against the wall).
•Bend your arms to move your forearms into an upright position (move your arms to a 90-degree angle).
•Carefully raise your arms above your head, keeping them flat against the wall.

Good flexibility allows you to fully extend your arms and touch your hands together while keeping your arms, elbows, and wrists touching the wall at all times.

If you scroll down the page there is a video with a good description below it. I was kind of dismayed yet not completely surprised to learn that my left shoulder does not want to completely touch the wall when doing this exercise. I intend to work on it daily. I'm sure this will be good for posture too, lol.

So, here is the description of the exercise if anyone else wants to check their shoulder flexibility.

•Stand with your back and heels against a flat wall.
•Extend your arms straight out to your sides, with your palms facing out (the backs of your hands against the wall).
•Bend your arms to move your forearms into an upright position (move your arms to a 90-degree angle).
•Carefully raise your arms above your head, keeping them flat against the wall.

Good flexibility allows you to fully extend your arms and touch your hands together while keeping your arms, elbows, and wrists touching the wall at all times. He says, this is a great exercise for not only improving shoulder flexibility, but for strengthening the rotator cuffs as well.

Who knew that hold the bar correctly would be my first lifting challenge????

DavPul

Cliffs?

212019156

Shoulder mobility is definitely important to be able to clamp the bar down. You could try doing shoulder dislocates. Start with a towel so they are not so difficult

smashley_mashley

Try some yoga. Nth more you practice, the more flexibility you will gain.

sodakat

Thanks for suggestions! I've made an effort to move the "bad" shoulder more every day now that I'm aware of the problem. Also, I was able to squat using the bar this week by lowering the bar a bit. I think that allowed a bit more mobility.

ninerbuff

Dynamic stretching throughout the day should help too. This could consist of arm circles, arm crosses across the chests, front arm swings. Great thing about dynamic stretching is that it's get blood flowing and you stretch at the same time.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition