 Welcome, welcome, welcome to this live session where if you're watching live, great, follow along, if you're watching back on replay, follow along as well, engage in the comments, let us know how things are going, we're looking at improving our shoulder range overhead so this shoulder flexion understanding how I'm just going to go through like a principle of understanding how that shoulder works so that we can try to improve mobility and take that principle into just one exercise. But hopefully for you to understand that principle so you can use it in anything at all, it's going to be super simple and super easy for you to be able to do. So do please follow along, ask any questions in the comments, let me know how things are going and what the first thing we're going to do is just check in with how the shoulders are moving so that we have an idea of if this is, if there's some of the exercises that we do, some of the things that we do actually help improve it. So there's two very simple things I want you to do, I do this just kneeling or you can do it standing up or I want you to literally just take the arms overhead and see how do they feel as I take the arms overhead. Look straight above you and just make a note on the wall, sorry on the ceiling in front of you above your head, where does it get to? How does the shoulder feel? Does it feel like easy to get there? Is it a bit like sort of feels a bit tight? Do you compensate by lifting through the shoulders or somewhere else to the elbows bend when you're trying to go up and then another big one is, do we arch through the back? So if I was standing up, arch seems to try and get the arms overhead or not. So make a note when you do that in your own body, are you compensating somewhere through the spine, through the back for shoulders? And then how easy is it for the arms to get there? Where does a bit of a marker? You can do it standing up against the wall if you want to do as well. The other thing, I'm down on my knees because we're going to be doing some stuff down on the floor. Thank you everyone that's joining live, great to see you and I hope this really helps. So check in with that. Then the other thing, just for a little bit of understanding of how the shoulder moves, we have our armban, our humerus that goes into the shoulder socket and sits in the glenol fosw, which is on the scapula. So we have this scapula that sits on the back of your case like my hand and then we also have the upper armban. So when you point to your shoulder, that's actually what we're talking about, the scapula in with this upper arm, this humerus. And I want you to see, arms out at 90 degree bend at each of the elbow, what is an internal rotation like of that humour head and what is an external rotation like? So I tend to get a little bit more external rotation on that left hand side and then laugh a little bit on the internal rotation. But what I want you to do is notice how far down you can go without compensating through those shoulders. So look, that's a good example. Look, hands go down, that's me getting, that's the range that I've got. We're looking for about 45 degrees on the internal rotation, but with control of the shoulder blades. If I let my shoulder blades at the back just move up and round, look, my hand goes virtually flat down. But that's not because I've moved, created more internal rotation at the shoulder in terms of that humerus moving at the joint. All I've done is move my shoulder blade. So what you need to be aware of, I keep your shoulder blades in a position when you go through there and then the same on the way back. The most common one, unlike at the shoulders tend to stay in a better position when we go back for external rotation. But a lot of the time we see this compensation through arching of the back to make us feel like we get some more range. So your hands go a bit further back. It's just your brain's way of finding the easiest route to get to the task that you've asked that you've said. Take your arms back, the way the brain might do it. It's easier if I just do this because my back can move, but my shoulder feels a little bit tight and sticky. So what range have you got? How smooth and easy does it feel through rotation as well as full flexion overhead? And then if you've got any discomfort or pain with that. So just check in with that and we're going to retest them at the end. And even by just doing that test we're getting an understanding of some of the compensations that might happen through the spine. Some of the compensations that might happen through the shoulders, particularly the position of the shoulder blade. And that's one of the things I want to focus in on for you to understand this principle. So you can take this into any of your training. If we think about one of the most common things that is going to restrict us going into this overhead position, which is in fact shoulder flexion, the elbow is extended, but the shoulder is in flexion. The shoulder extension is the arm going behind the body, where shoulder flexion is the arm going overhead. So it's this handstand position that we're trying to create is elbows extended, but shoulders in flexion position. And one of the muscles that creates that shoulder flexion is your chest, your pec muscles. And then interestingly when that gets tight, so when that shortens, like when a muscle contracts it shortens. So when it is contracting that's helping us go into or should be helping us go into shoulder flexion because the pec is a flexor of the shoulder, one of its primary jobs. Now, so if that's tight it should actually be, should be thinking like well actually if it's shortening it should actually be making it easier to go into that position. But that's where the complexity a little bit of the shoulder joint in itself because we have this scapula that's moving on the back of the ribcage as I lift my arm up overhead where I'm driving out through here, so I'll come up there I'll come round the side or round the back. It doesn't really matter how you get it there. Your shoulder blade is having to upwardly rotate around the ribcage to allow your arm to go overhead and to clear some space at the shoulder. Okay, you'll notice this that if I take for example, if I round you should try this one with me. Round your shoulders forward, so let those scapulas be in a really poor position and then keep them in that position but try to lift your arms up. They literally won't go any further until you let the thoracics by an extent and those shoulder blades to come up and provide some upward rotation not necessarily elevation but that upward rotation around the ribcage. So when I'm stuck here, I'm not going to refer to when I allow that thoracic to extend that's part of it in terms of our ribcage position because that's related to our thoracic and then that helps with the movement of the scapula and then when we allow those scapulas to ride around but want them to stay in flush to the ribcage because that's the important thing that if we don't allow that to happen we stay stuck in that position if we've got poor control of that. Now the pecs particularly pec minor which is going to come underneath think about coming under the collarbone, attaches onto ribs 3, 4 and 5 and if that guy gets tight then what it does is where it attaches onto your shoulder blade pulls the shoulder blade forward almost like not strictly but like 5, it sort of pulls us into this position and pulls on that scapula and pulling it out of shape and we know that when we artificially view this poor rounded position with the shoulders coming round and that scapula is being lifted up that we struggle to get the arms overhead fully because even though the pecs are a flexor of the shoulder so meaning when it shortens it's going to help against that position if we're pulling that scapula, that shoulder blade out of position then that means actually the movement of that joint itself is going to restrict it so even though pecs are a flexor they are going to pull us into a poor position affect the movement of the scapula which is going to have a knock on effect on your actual shoulder mobility so there's a number of things that we can do to loosen these off that we can do some self release work with a massage ball that can literally come under that collarbone there and work into some of that tissue to release a bit of tension I want to go through a little exercise that isn't even it's not even going to be mobilising in the hands of a head yes we can do that and yes we can do some thoracic works all going to help but this one is just going to target that area and just give us an idea of the fact that if we work into extension that allows us to open up and release some tension and create some range around the shoulders and the front of the pecs and then the front of the shoulder we're going to be able to hopefully go back to the things we tested at the start and it's going to feel an awful lot better so what it's going to look like, super simple you're going to come down onto the floor just like I am and as far as ominis I'm just going to adjust that camera a little bit so come down onto the floor and we're going to go through a couple of different options for you so sit down on the floor to start with I want you to point your fingers that are going to be pointed behind you and then I just want you to notice the position that your shoulders are in I'm going to show you a few different choices I'm actually going to show you so you can actually see the shoulders moving themselves so hands just where's comfortable feet where's comfortable and I just want you to notice when you slump just sort of rest into that position where are your shoulders like? are they forward, are they back are they up my ears or are they down and then just notice what is it like to actually just feel you moving your shoulder way so can you pull them back what is it like when they're forward what is it like when they're up what is it like when they're down to see what that feels like and then because that's unloaded bum is resting on the floor then what we're going to do is lift the bum up off the floor and I want you to make note of where your shoulders are so I can lift my bum up off the floor effectively taking that arm into extension remember flexion of the shoulders taken overhead extension is taking it behind us so the hand as I now am keeping the hand still but I lift my bum up in the air my shoulder is going into extension so I therefore have the opportunity and potential to lengthen through the front of the chest and that anterior shoulder but the position of my shoulder is really key so can I squeeze my bum and get myself nice and high and try and get that body in a flat position here and then what are the shoulders doing so just like we had them when we were on the floor can you keep your bum up can you squeeze them back can you let them, can you understand what's around your forehead can they be up by your ears can you drive them down and I want you to know just have a feel of the difference of those positions and just know that you can move your shoulder blades whilst in here then come rest back down your wrists are going to get a bit of a warm up as well and get used to being a bit more wrist extension so still this one shake them out a little bit and then let us know in the comments how you are getting on with it hands go back behind fingers pointing away still and then what we are going to do is come up and we are going to think about squeezing them the glutes so you get the hips nice and high and then I want you to really position the shoulders in place to be able to open them up squeezing back so that would look a little bit like which I am on the camera so coming up rather than being forward here, arms up in the air I am going to squeeze them back and I am going to push down so you see how that squeezing back that shoulder basically retraction so I am pulling the shoulders back and then I am also, do not have the shoulders by the ears, I am squeezing down what that is helping to do is open up through the front of the peg and the shoulder more so just because we are doing this movement I can lift myself up but if I am letting the shoulders round forward I am actually still closing off that space, I am a little bit more like this but my shoulder is in extension I am not looking how closed off that space is I want to be thinking about squeezing back and pushing them down when I am in that shape so hopefully you can see that that was the part of the bit harder to see what you have to teach it on so what does that look like so push the bum up in the air first hopefully you can then start to get that understanding of way so I will squeeze them back push them down and as you push down it is like I create a long neck so bum squeezed up shoulders back and then push down and then squeeze into that position what you are going to find is that you are going to feel tricep squeezing tricep helps to stabilise the shoulder as well tricep you are going to feel the back of the shoulders posterior down you are going to feel rhomboise hopefully and then what we are noticing is and we can come relaxed back down is hopefully we are noticing this start to open up around the front of the shoulders and what we want to do from there is then you have got options in terms of whether you have to hold it static but one of the nice things about this is it is not a static position in terms of passive it is not passive because you are actively squeezing those muscles that are the opposite that are helping to pull you into extension and then lift up and we can come up and down out of this position to make it a little bit more dynamic but ideally what we are going to do is slide ourself away and as I go over there is knees over toes more anyone like the knees over toes guy he may or may not be winning on the movement strength and play forecast by the school gas annex that is a spoiler anyway what am I doing when I take the knees over and basically with my hands pushing backwards which is then going to take my shoulder into more extension see that as I go further forward the shoulder itself is now going further behind into more extension so as long as I don't like those shoulders around forward keep them squeezed back and push down away I am actually now mobilising into more shoulder extension which is hopefully let me know in the comments if you find this noticing that around the front of here around your chest, around the front of the shoulders is getting like an opening up feeling the other thing we are going to just add in is a really cool one I have experienced recently around how we can use the breath to facilitate this large strong inhalations help to stimulate a part of the brainstem called the pons and that facilitates more extension activation extension patterns so if I am trying to get myself into more extension I can try to breathe in large breaths and forcefully and really help that happen and then for a nice relaxation response I am going to extend the exhale so slow down my exhale I am going to do them on all these so I am going to squeeze the bum up into the air squeeze the shoulder back push and then as I am trying to squeeze and get myself higher and almost away a little bit when I get to the point where I don't feel like I can get any more so now in that position I am working quite hard I am also still squeezing back and not rolling forward and then I breathe in big breath in big breath in and then relax on the out breath extending over on that exhale squeeze back and you might then feel like oh yeah I can get a little bit further and a little bit higher come down we will try another one we have three to five of these we will just try one more and then we will recheck in where we are at so squeeze the bum up into the air squeeze the shoulders back push down nice and high can you get any higher and then in through the nose but go for a large breath biggest breath that you can do if you feel like you can get a bit more in bit more bit more and then slowly out relax notice that relaxation up and then squeeze up a little bit more cool put a little bit more of a demand on so this you can position where the finger is pointing forward that way rather than back behind you but we are effectively turning the shoulder in to create some internal rotation but it can be quite nice for your forearms and for your wrists as well in terms of opening that shoulder up more it makes more sense to have the fingers pointing back there is a variation on that the other one I wanted to show you or just to introduce the concept of having a little bit of fun with it and the other thing is not only the brain when it is having fun is more engaged the other thing is just being stuck in one position the brain likes tasks if it is a little bit more complicated or complex a task it is more likely to engage in it and think about maintaining some of these positions we are going in so I can come into here I have created some nice range of use of that breath to do that as well and then what I am going to do I am going to try can I walk forward can I walk back and you think when I am walking forward push myself into more extension and then ultimately I have to lift the hand up so I have to take more weight on to one side so there is a little bit more loading going on so I am going into more and more more extension to do that and I just now have to be conscious of what my shoulders are doing are they diving forward or are I keeping them back and then when I am walking backwards one at a time taking again more load on one side then I have to squeeze back and I have to reach back so I am actively pulling into more extension so again I am working on that extension but I am giving the brain a bit of task to think about if you wanted to make it really a little bit more complex you want to keep the hips up level is super hard you are going to see me dropping them a little bit but can I actually move the opposite hand and opposite foot so I am going to lift my right foot I am going to lift my left hand and try to put them down in synchronisation so then having to stop talking because now I am thinking so much about what I am doing but then I am adding a level of coordination to the drill so my brain is having to think quite a lot as well the exercise becomes a little bit more complex hopefully I am cranky I am feeling a lot around the back of that posterior in between the shoulder blades hopefully that is feeling a little bit looser around the front now we can just recheck in to see where you are at when you take your arms take your arms overhead now how does that feel when you look up is it further behind your head than you were before certainly is there for me on that one and then what is your rotation feel like again, not letting the shoulders you can see better now I have not got my t-shirt on so you can see when you are going into that internal rotation not letting the shoulders round forward and go look how good my internal rotation range is no no no no that is not internal rotation range feeling is contracting and elevating your scapula so keep the shoulder blades in control what is that internal rotation feel like what is that external rotation feel like without arching through the back look how low I can get my hands keep your ribs down what is the external rotation range wise I am going back past 180 ideally we are looking for the whole arc to be 108 degrees so if you think that where that line gets to I should be able to reach that on the other side too a healthy shoulder let us know in the comments so it was fun, yes good does it feel any better too can you create more range particularly thinking about that overhead one when you come into that hands on how does that feel, does that feel easier can you create more range does it feel smoother and less clicking or clunky if there was pain before less pain now but we don't really want to be pain when we are going into some of these positions particularly when we are just lifting our arms overhead and it is unloaded so I think my hands are like this for how does that feel how does that feel Finn has asked on YouTube about the position of the hands yes I mentioned that if you spin the hands round you are going to get a little bit more through the forearms and into the wrists but your if it makes sense that when my hands are back my fingers are pointing forward the shoulder is turned inwards whereas when the fingers point back I am turning out fingers pointing in that is round inwards in turn rotation when I turn the fingers back and point backwards I am opening up for in terms of opening up through the chest through the pecs, through that anterior delt and the whole time we are doing that we are activating all the muscles at the back so hopefully feeling better and even though we haven't actually gone into any overhead handstand positions you are noticing that to go into that shape now your shoulders feel better and then in terms of rotation for just good health it feels easier, feels smoother feels better so I hope that has been helpful I am glad it has helped what if your shoulders and any questions now those that are live please ask them either on YouTube more than happy to answer all these questions and thanks for watching thanks for joining anyone that needs to leave class dismissed, see you next time question around on YouTube what if the shoulder's soreness after a few moments of movement is it soreness to do with pain or is it like your shoulders working I could really feel some work going into the back of those shoulders if it's pain it may be that you've got some issues around that shoulder that needs to be addressed the pain is the body's way of telling that something something isn't right and we need to listen to that and we'd always recommend if it doesn't go away in a day or two rest meaning that we've potentially done something maybe there's a little bit of an injury there or maybe there's a little bit of dysfunction around the joint or like central relationships between some of the muscles around the front just to get assessed by a physio and just find out what the actual root problem of that is it shouldn't be creating pain when we're trying to improve on whether to warm up the brain will just want you to not go there so it's not going to give you more range if it's painful to go into that range so if a handstand, a handstand push-up was the ideal separation we talk generally about being hands underneath shoulders you're fine for something like a handstand push-up think about normal push-ups if you go super narrow on a handstand on a normal push-up it's a little bit harder it's more tricep if you go a little bit wider it can be a little bit more comfortable for like a normal push-up the same is going to apply on our handstand on our handstand push-ups your frog to handstand a lot of the time if you go a little bit wider you can feel a little bit stronger in that position because it's not just loading up the tricep so much you get to the chest and the triceps the narrower you go the more tricep you're making which is going to then make it harder how properly improveability in the rotation position so like that rotation position a lot of it's going to come down to your control of the humour head so your upper arm emulation of that scapula and you'll be able to keep the scapula tracking in synchronisation with the humour head so some of that is going to be a little bit more finer detail of the control not something that's going to necessarily just be sorted out with that one thing that we did today but one of the most common things that's pulling in on the shoulder or two of them will be like pecs as we just went through there and then lats so those two big prime movers can really affect the shoulder there's I think 17 or more different muscles attaching to the shoulder blade, the scapula so there's a number of different things that can be pulling on it and the length tension relationships between some of those muscles so the strength on some compared to others can be can that affect the movement of it and then the movement and position of it is going to affect how easy it is to create that rotation that would be one of them and then often like a weak rotator cuff will just like tighten up and that restricts can restrict the range either into extension or into external rotation or internal rotation so like thinking about strengthening the rotator cuff is always a good one to potentially help with that so Bodyweight Beginner shoulder exercise I think one of the like we've got a whole program for a product called Bodyweight Basics which is designed ideally for beginners just using your bodyweight you can try it for seven days on a seven day free trial just recommend just getting on board with that if you haven't tried out any of our online memberships where you get access to all the training programs but support from the coaches etc as well and we've got a ton of videos on YouTube that exercises for the shoulders for ability, for handstands for whatever it is but if you want a program set out with all the reps and sets that you're asking for that is that's all there in Bodyweight Basics and that type of programming is included in all the all the programs that you get as part of your online membership Can I read Arabic? I can barely read English so where the chances are I'm not going to be able to so cool so thank you so much for everyone joined live and thank you equally as much if you weren't able to join live and watch back later big love from all of us at the School of Classics I've been Jaco, hope for your shoulders are feeling better let us know in the comments and if you have any follow up questions hit us up in the DMs if you haven't subscribed to us on YouTube yet we've just passed 100,000 on YouTube I celebrated by moving my bed out of my bedroom so if you haven't subscribed yet on YouTube get us to 100,001 maybe so thank you very much I don't really know what else to say apart from Class dismissed