Lots of people are sitting at home these days. One thing we don’t think about is losing some upper back mobility sitting at a computer most of the day. Many people struggle with their shoulders especially the older they get. Little kids hang from monkey bars and climb trees, as we get older we don’t access that overhead position as much. When we think about shoulder mobility limitations we think about the upper back, the lats, the pecs, and possible the triceps. If this is you, here are a few things you can do to keep up with your shoulder mobility.
SOFT TISSUE WORK
- Upper back foam rolling- Grab a foam roller and roll your upper back. The goal here is to get as much extension in your upper back as you can, not to simply roll. This will help break up some of that tightness caused by sitting in that rounded position all day. This is also good for really anyone to do except for people with really flat upper backs. I also recommend sitting in the “goal post” position on the roller at last for 2 minutes per day. This opens the chest up and allows your shoulders to freely move overhead.
STRETCHES
- Puppy dog stretch/foam roll stretch-Just getting the arms overhead several times throughout the day with a stretch really doesn’t allow the shoulders to stay tight. Some banded stretches I like are the “scarecrow” stretch, the banded lat stretch , the banded chest stretch, and the lying shoulder band stretch. Try and add these into your routine almost daily if you can. If you don’t have access to a band try the puppy dog and foam roller stretch.
WORKOUTS
- Make sure to work through a full range of motion while performing exercises. Every wonder how children can do a full depth deep squat? They come out working into that full range of motion. Most people perform poor push ups and air squats with short ranges of motion. The fascial system (collagen system surrounding the muscles of the body) adapts to whatever the body puts it through. If we never access these full ranges of motion our body looses access. Try and scale down if you struggle with these movements. Here is a good way to scale push ups.