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Mobility Exercises

Mobility Exercise to Release a Chronically Tight Shoulder

One of the oft-overlooked elements of releasing a chronically tight shoulder is shortened muscles and tendons in the posterior shoulder region.

The specific tendons and muscles that tend to be short in those with chronic shoulder tightness and impingement are:

Infraspinatus
Teres minor
Posterior deltoid Read more

 

Mobility Exercises for Shoulder Impingement

Start with arm circles. Ideally, you want to keep your shoulder blades (scapulae) squeezed together as you take your shoulders through small, controlled circles, forward and backward.

Proceed to Cow-Cat to mobilize your spine and scapulae. Alternate between flexion and extension of your spine, focusing on controlled movement throughout. Read more

 

Posterior and Anterior Pelvic Tilt for Improved Core Strength

Learning to hold the pelvis and lower back in posterior and anterior pelvic tilt positions is highly beneficial to improving core strength.

You can hold posterior and anterior pelvic tilt positions while lying prone, while on all fours, and while in plank position. Read more

 

Seated Pike Pulses for Hip Flexor and Core Strength

Excellent for developing hip flexor strength, seated pike pulses are done while seated, legs together and straight out in front on the ground, toes pointed, hands on either side of of the ground beside your legs for support, and then lifting your feet off the ground and pulsing up and down to whatever degree you can. Read more

 

Arch and Hollow for Core Strength

Arch and Hollow holds are stapes in the gymnastics world, both highly effective for improving functional core strength and spinal mobility.

For Arch, start prone and lift your legs and arms off the ground at the same time. Squeeze your buttocks and try to keep the front of your thighs off the ground. Strive to keep your scapulae contracted toward one another as you keep your arms and head off the ground. Read more

 

Straight Leg Raises for Core and Hip Flexor Strength

Lying supine with your buttocks resting on the backs of your hands, keep your legs straight and together with toes pointed, and raise them up toward your head, then lower them back toward the ground in a controlled manner but try not to let them touch the ground. Work your way up to ten repetitions per set. Read more

 

A Simple Spinal Mobility Routine

This is a simple spinal mobility routine that is effective for warming up all of the tissues in and around your spine. I would suggest following this or a similar routine before doing any other type of exercise to reduce risk of sprains and strains throughout the back. Read more

 

Reunion Between Christian the Lion and John Rendall and Anthony 'Ace' Bourke

If you haven't yet come across the following video that captures the reunion between Christian the lion and his adoptive parents, John Rendall and Ace Bourke, I encourage you to have a look here:

 

Scapular Mobility Exercises

If you have shoulder pain and stiffness while using your arms overhead, I encourage you to add scapular mobility exercises to your self care routine, as optimal movement of your shoulder blades along the posterior surface of your ribcage is vital to ensuring proper biomechanics of your shoulder joints when your arms are raised overhead.

If you're new to scapular mobility exercises, I would start with the Cow-Cat drill found here: Read more

 

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