Move With Us Through Shoulder Mobility
Welcome back to our Move With Us series! This week’s focus is on shoulder mobility. With posture and the amount of time we spend sitting at desks and on our phones, our shoulder mobility can be largely impacted. Today’s Move With Us includes some stretches to release commonly tight muscles that impede movement, as well as some great mobility based exercises to increase your range of motion.
Let’s get moving
Shoulder Rolls
Starting standing with your arms by your side and your feet hip width apart
Lift one shoulder up towards your ear and then roll in backwards, continuining to roll down to that side gliding your hand down the side of the leg
Slowly slide your arm back up your leg, restacking the spine
Repeat on the other side
Do 3-4 rolls on each side or more if you’d like
Pec Stretch
Our aim is to release through the muscles at the front of your chest (pecs) which will allow you to open up through the chest
Coming towards the wall, place your right arm up against the wall
Leaning into the wall, step your outside foot forwards and place as much pressure through the chest as comfortable
You should feel a release and stretch through the front of your chest, hold for at least 20 seconds
Now, bring your right arm higher up the wall to swap from your pec major to pec minor muscle
Repeat on the other side
Cross Arm Stretch
This stretch is targeting our posterior rotator cuff and the muscles through the back of the arm and shoulder
Cross one arm across your body, then with the other arm fold your forearm over the elbow or upper arm of the arm you’re stretching
Use the folded arm to increase or decrease the intensity of the stretch
Hold for 20-30 seconds then repeat on the other side
Wall Rainbows
In a kneeling position with your knee that’s on the floor being closest to the wall
Bring your arm that’s next to the wall out in front of you so that your palm is flat against the wall
Keeping your palm in contact with the wall, slowly rainbow your arm up overhead and then behind your in a semi circle shape
Slowly rainbow back to the start position
Repeat 4-6 times before
We hope you found this helpful! Feel free to repeat this series multiple times through out the week and keep Moving With Us. If you have any questions or need any advice on any of these exercises, please don't hesitate to reach out and chat to us.
Remember that you shouldn’t feel pain during any of these exercises. If they are painful for you, consider avoiding that exercise or decreasing the intensity. We are always here to help if needed.
If you’re after some more advice or are in need of some hands on help, we’d love to see you at Collective Motion! Collective Motion offers Osteopathy, Myotherapy, Dietetics and Pilates and is conveniently located to service our Bentleigh community as well as its surrounding suburbs including Bentleigh East, McKinnon, Ormond, Glenhuntly, Murrumbeena, Carnegie, Oakleigh, Gardenvale, Brighton East and Hampton East. Click below to book an appointment and let us help you get moving again.
