Is shoulder or upper back tightness limiting you from hitting the shapes you want in your movement?

As movement athletes, we are constantly throwing hard and supporting our bodyweight with our arms. Without mobility training, these skills can create stiffness around the upper back and shoulders that prevent us from performing how we need to 👎

The common approach to improving mobility comes down to static stretch holds like doorway stretches. The problem with this approach is that we don't develop the strength and control we need in our new range, which often leads to pain and injury in movement. 

In Overhead Mobility for Movement, we incorporate flexibility, mobility, strength and coordination drills to address common shoulder and upper back limitations - strengthening as we open up your back and shoulders.

By the end of this workout, you should see some noticeable improvement in your range of motion 🔥

Do this workout 1-3x/week for best results 💪

Time Tip: Try fitting this into your routine as a warmup or cooldown to some of your workouts during the week 🙌

The reps are a guideline. The hallmark of a good warmup is that you feel prepare to move!

Be sure to watch our ‘Mobility RX’ follow-along CARs tutorials for a detailed guide on performing Shoulder CARs. Regular practice is key to maintaining and improving shoulder joint health.

[Step 1: Starting Position]
Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Engage your core as if bracing to lift something heavy.

[Step 2: External Rotation + Adduction]
Start with your arm at your side, elbow straight, and palm facing up. Begin by externally rotating your shoulder so that your bicep faces outward, away from your body. As you do this, bring your arm in front of you towards the midline of your body. This is the starting position for the shoulder CAR.

[Step 3: Flexion + External Rotation]
From this externally rotated position, begin to raise your arm in front of you and up towards the ceiling, continuing to externally rotate your shoulder as you move. This means your thumb will point outwards as your arm reaches its highest point overhead.

[Step 4: Extension + Internal Rotation]
As you pass the top of the movement, start to internally rotate your shoulder. Continue moving your arm backward in a circular motion, bringing it down behind you. Your palm will face outward, and your thumb will point down when your arm reaches the back.

[Step 5: Adduction to Close the Circle]
Continue to bring your arm down to your side, maintaining the internal rotation. Your palm should face behind you when your arm reaches your side.

[Step 6: Reverse]
Now, reverse the entire sequence. Start with your arm at your side, palm facing back. Lift your arm up and back, externally rotating as it goes overhead. Continue the movement forward in a circular motion, finishing with your palm up and your arm back in the starting position.

Focus on moving through a comfortable range of motion, avoiding any pain. If you feel discomfort, reduce the range. Remember, it's about quality and controlled movement.

Shoulder CARs

Be sure to check out our ‘Mobility RX’ follow-along CARs tutorials for an in-depth guide on performing Scapular CARs. Regular practice is key to maintaining and improving scapular joint health.

[Step 1: Starting Position]
Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Engage your core as if bracing to lift something heavy.

[Step 2: Elevation]
Begin with scapular elevation by shrugging your shoulders upwards towards your ears. Ensure your neck stays relaxed. A helpful tip is to imagine your fingers running up and down the seam of your pants - never side to side. This indicates vertical movement of the arm. 

[Step 3: Elevation + Protraction]
Move your shoulder blade forward, away from your spine, into scapular protraction. Keep your arm running along the seam of your pants. During this step, you should feel your pecs engaging.  
[Step 4: Depression + Protraction]
Now, lower your shoulder blade down, away from your ears, into scapular depression. Visualize your fingers moving down along your pants seam, guiding the vertical motion.

[Step 5: Depression + Retraction]
Gently pull your shoulder blade together towards your spine. This is scapular retraction. Continue to keep your arm moving along the line of your pants seam, ensuring a straight, controlled motion.

[Step 6: Elevation + Continuing the Circle]
Return to scapular elevation by shrugging your shoulders upwards again. Perform reps in one direction before reversing the circle. It is presented in steps, but once you are comfortable you can blend each step together, provided you are using your max, pain-free range of motion. Think of “carving” out more space with each rep. 

[Step 7: Reverse]
Reverse the sequence, starting with scapular retraction, then moving into depression, followed by protraction, and finishing with elevation.

Remember to move through a comfortable range of motion without pain. If any movement causes discomfort, modify the range. It's about controlled, quality movements focusing on the scapu

Scapular CARs

Quadruped Thoracic Rotations are great for mobility and stability of the thoracic spine and shoulder girdle and should be a staple in your routine. 

Thoracic mobility is extremely important in not only improving neck, shoulder and postural function, but in giving us the space to perform throwing and rotational movements such as touchdown raiz or eagles without limitation.

Begin in the quadruped position, or all fours. We prefer doing this drill banded because it allows us to gain strength and stability within our range of motion and therefore increases carryover of this new mobility. 

Strength throughout our full range of motion is simply safer as it is injury preventative. 

Make sure you choose a tension that is challenging but does not limit your full range of motion.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotations - Banded

Shoulder Genies are another great mobility exercise for the shoulder girdle and thoracic spine. The shoulder is a 3D ball and socket joint. Our mobility and stability training needs to reflect this for maximum benefit and carryover to functional tasks such as reaching over head or behind our back.
 
For Genies, start in a standing position with your arms overhead in a goal post position.

Get some scapular (shoulder blade) engagement by pulling your shoulder blades down and back. Limit shoulder shrugging as much as possible during this exercise. 

As one arm aims to touch the top of the opposite shoulder, the other arm aims to touch the bottom of the opposite shoulder. 
Reverse this motion to complete a rep. 

The goal is to touch both hands together at the middle of the back WITHOUT compromising form (i.e. losing your breath, excessive spinal movement, shoulder shrugging, forward head posture). Many will not be able to do this yet (like me) but that is why this is worth doing! Stay within your range where your breath and form is maintained and it will improve over time.

Shoulder Genies

Dead hanging is a great drill for so many reasons! It can help improve overhead mobility, lat and pec tightness, upper body and core stability, grip 
strength and can even help decompress the spine. 

To perform this correctly, stay engaged with your grip, core and scapular muscles. When we dead hang without muscular support, we not only miss out on the opportunity to improve overhead stability, we can also irritate our shoulder by hanging our entire body weight on the ligaments and joint capsule. 

Make sure that you stay engaged by squeezing your shoulder blades down and in while squeezing the bar.

It is usually more difficult to hang in a supinated (palms up) position as this position requires more pec and lat mobility. If you can handle it, it can be a great way to improve shoulder, elbow and wrist mobility as well.

The progressions in this video increase the demands on your grip strength, endurance and total body stability. Only go to a level you can maintain for at least 10-20 seconds.

Dead Hang Progression

Overhead Mobility Warmup

Walk out to tension with the band anchored as shown. Find a deep but tolerable stretch, and begin pushing into the band to keep the shoulder engaged. Hold for 5-10 sec per rep and repeat. The lunge is helpful in deepening the shoulder stretch and in easing in and out of each rep. 

What does "ENG", or Eccentric Neural Grooving mean? Let's break it down: 

Eccentric contractions refer to a muscle elongating under tension, typically occurring as it resists a lengthening force.

Neural Grooving: the repetitive practice of specific movement patterns to enhance the nervous system's ability to coordinate these movements efficiently. Through repetition, the body "grooves" a neural pathway, making the movement more automatic and refined.

Therefore, the goal of ENG is to safely expand the range of motion while ensuring that the muscles controlling that range are strong and efficient, leading to more functional and resilient joints.

Shoulder Flexion ENG

Shoulder Extension ENG

Begin by lying on an incline or flat bench with a light to moderate weight held overhead. Allow weight to lower overhead with control. Hold at bottom for 5-10 sec per rep. 

With the weight overhead, your body will want to compensate by arching your back. Limit arching at the lower back by engaging your core.

Modifications: Barbell, dumbbell, KB, bands or a light bar can be used as resistance.

DB Pullovers

Walk out to tension, holding a band/cable column with your far arm as shown. 

Engage your postural muscles and core so that you are only moving from your shoulder, not your trunk. 

Allow the band to pull your arm across your body, which should create a stretch in the back of your shoulder. Perform reps into and out of the stretch as shown. 

To advance this, simply turn your body away from the band anchor. This will increase the range of motion of the exercise, as well as the stretch felt at the shoulder.

Modifications: Perform sidelying on a bench or incline bench with a dumbbell

Cross Body Pulls

Begin by clasping hands behind your back and 'rolling' your shoulders open. Actively pull your hands upwards towards the ceiling.

Lean into a forward fold to increase the stretch. If this is too much on the hamstrings, simply bend your knees or perform seated. 

From the forward fold, , continue to actively pull your arms overhead for a 3-5 sec hold. Rise back to starting position and repeat for reps.

Modifications: weighted (as shown), seated

Shoulder Extension Pikes

Progression 1: Shoulder Lifts 

Many things might be limiting from you accessing an overhead position (such as strength deficits, shoulder or spinal mobility, pain, etc). Practicing this at the appropriate level will help over time. You may need to start with no weight or seated (and that's OK).

We want to feel this exercise between the shoulder blades and especially at the lower trapezius muscle, which helps to keep our shoulder blades in an optimal position during overhead movement. We want to avoid "shrugging" which can limit overhead shoulder mobility and put undue tension on our neck and shoulder.


Progression 2: Overhead Squat

1. take a dowel or broom stick and bring it overhead, palms up. 
2. With core engaged and feet grabbing the floor, descend into your deepest pain-free squat
3. Maintain bottom position for 5 seconds, engaging your shoulder blades to keep your arms overhead.

The overhead squat is an efficient drill to improve mobility in many areas of our body. In order to perform this drill well, we need great shoulder, elbow, wrist mobility, thoracic spine mobility, hip, knee and ankle mobility as well. We also need the ability to coordinate our upper and lower extremities effectively.

These attributes are all extremely useful for us as movement athletes as we need tons of overhead mobility, total body coordination as well as the ability to compress through the lower extremity.

Overhead Squat Progression

The sleeper stretch helps us improve shoulder internal rotation mobility. This stretch is very helpful in reaching behind our backs and in improving overhead mobility. 

Steps to performing the stretch (2 min hold): 
1. Lay on your side with head support
2. Bring your bottom arm to shoulder level
3. Attempt to bring palm to surface you are laying on. Use your other hand to add over pressure into this direction as shown.

Steps to performing the contract:relax reps: 

1. After the 2 min hold above, maintain the stretch and begin contract-relax cycles
2. To contract, push into hand for 10 seconds
3. Relax further into stretch for 10 seconds
4. Repeat for 5 reps

By performing contract:relax reps, we open up the joint space and build strength through our full range of motion.

Sleeper Stretch (Contract:Relax)

The Americana stretch helps us improve shoulder external rotation mobility. This stretch resembles a throwing motion and is very helpful in improving overhead mobility. 

Steps to performing the stretch (2 min hold): 
1. Use an inflexible band or strap that is anchored behind you as shown
2. Hold strap and walk forward until you find a stretch in the front of your shoulder
3. Keep your trunk facing forward. There should be no pain associated with this position. Hold stretch for 1-2 min

Steps to performing the contract:relax reps: 

1. After the 2 min hold above, maintain the stretch and begin contract-relax cycles
2. To contract, push hand against strap ("out of the stretch") for 10 seconds
3. To perform second contraction, pull further into stretch ("into the stretch") for 10 seconds
3. Relax further into stretch by walking forward for 10 seconds
4. Repeat for 5 reps

By performing contract:relax reps, we open up the joint space and build strength through our full range of motion.

Americana Stretch (Contract: Relax)

The Dip stretch helps us improve shoulder extension mobility. This stretch is very helpful in opening up the shoulders. 

Steps to performing the stretch (2 min hold): 
1. Use a dip bar, parallel bars or even a sturdy table or bench to support your hands on
2. Lower into a dip to where a stretch, but no pain is felt
3. Use your feet to help support your bodyweight during the stretch
3. Hold stretch position for 1-2 min

Steps to performing the contract:relax reps: 

1. After the 2 min hold above, maintain the stretch and begin contract-relax cycles
2. To contract, push into surface ("out of the stretch") for 10 seconds
3. Relax further into stretch by letting body sink for 10 seconds
4. Repeat for 5 reps

By performing contract:relax reps, we open up the joint space and build strength through our full range of motion.

Overhead Mobility for Movement 🤸‍♂️

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