The Correct Way to Perform the Sleeper Stretch - Mike Reinold

For a full description of this technique visit MikeReinold.com.

I'm not a huge fan of the sleeper stretch, here is why:

http://www.mikereinold.com/2011/07/why-i-dont-use-the-sleeper-stretch.html

But if you want to perform the stretch, at least do it with good technique.

~ 3 Keys to Performing the Sleeper Stretch Correctly ~

1. Scapula position. Roll onto your side and make sure that your scapula is retracted, meaning that you do not want to lay flat on your scapula with your shoulder rounded, you want to lay mostly on your rib cage and the outside border of your scapula. I usually roll forward towards my arm to get my scapula off the ground and then roll back.

2. Shoulder position. Next, make sure that your body is not straight up and down. You actually want to roll backwards so you body is facing upward at close to a 45 degree angle. This will get your shoulder out of the sagittal plane, which places too much strain on the posterior capsule, and into the scapular plane that stretches more of the posterior musculature. I am also trying to keep my head in neutral with my body position. I would normal use a yoga block or something similar to relax my head but it would have blocked the camera.

3. Intensity. Lastly, you want to gently push down until you feel a MILD stretch and hold for 30 seconds. Most people will push WAY to hard. You do not want to feel anything in the front of your shoulder. The goal is to feel a mild stretch in the back of your shoulder and to hold this position. Do this gently for a few reps and you will see improvement without cranking on the arm aggressively. Notice the amount of IR that I am achieving. It's not a large movement but as you can see it is close to 45 degrees of internal rotation, which is plenty. Your hand is not supposed to touch the ground, that is WAY too much motion.

Michael M. Reinold, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC, CSCS

Category:

Education

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• Mike Reinold
• Stretch
• Shoulder
• Scapula
• Rotator Cuff
• GIRD
• Internal Impingement
• Baseball
• Overhead Athlete
• training