Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - Shoulder Mobility
Uploaded: 2025-04-08T19:59:02.018Z
Duration: 45 min
Description: Shoulder Mobility

James

This is a shoulder mobility routine complete with a warmup, stability, control exercises, joint work and static stretching. Do this a few times per week if you are feeling limited in your movement due to shoulder stiffness!

Aim for 30-45 seconds of each type! Only rest if you need to. This is designed to get your blood flowing and get those shoulders loose at the same time!

This is a basic, but incredible exercise for developing cardiovascular health, power and agility in the lower extremity. 

Your goal should be to keep ground contact time to a minimum. Try quick flicks with your ankle while keeping the core tight. Training like the floor is "hot lava" will improve reactivity - or your speed and efficiency in plyometric movement.

We get an added benefit from our arms - they help us coordinate the motion and help warm up our shoulder for overhead activities.

Jumping Jacks

This is a basic, but incredible exercise for developing cardiovascular health, power and agility in the lower extremity. 

Your goal should be to keep ground contact time to a minimum. Try quick flicks with your ankle while keeping the core tight. Training like the floor is "hot lava" will improve reactivity - or your speed and efficiency in plyometric movement.

We get an added benefit from our arms - they help us coordinate the motion and help warm up our shoulder for overhead activities. You should be feeling opening at your chest with this horizontal arm swing.

Jumping Jacks - Horizontal

This is a basic, but incredible exercise for developing cardiovascular health, power and agility in the lower extremity. 

Your goal should be to keep ground contact time to a minimum. Try quick flicks with your ankle while keeping the core tight. Training like the floor is "hot lava" will improve reactivity - or your speed and efficiency in plyometric movement.

We get an added benefit from our arms - they help us coordinate the motion and help warm up our shoulder for overhead activities. You should be feeling opening at your chest and in the front of your shoulder with this backwards arm swing.

Jumping Jacks - Backwards

3 Way Jumping Jacks

Shoulder halos are a great mobility exercise for the shoulder girdle and thoracic spine. 

For shoulder halos, trace around your head with your arms as if you are making a halo around your crown. Remember to do both directions!

It isn’t necessary to do it loaded (as in, with a weight), but doing so enhances the benefits if your shoulder can handle it. Start small and increase as tolerated to improve your shoulder stability and mobility over time. If you are in need of kettlebells, head over to trickstrong.com/shop 

I like using an underhand grip here which prevents impingement and promotes external rotation, or opening of the shoulder.
Notice the isolation of movement to the shoulder and thoracic spine from the side view. 

It is very easy to overarch at the lower back if our core is not engaged. We want an arch in the thoracic spine as the arms come behind us. This helps correct poor posture over time as many are flexed in this region.

Shoulder Halos - KB

This is 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 Rotating Angels, start on your stomach with your forehead supported on a firm surface such as a floor, mat or towel. Lift your arms off of the ground with scapular (shoulder blade) engagement. Limit shoulder shrugging as much as possible during this exercise. 

Notice how we rotate the shoulder continuously throughout the movement, achieving a palms up position once our arms raise above our shoulders. In overhead movement, the palms up position prevents impingement & promotes external rotation, or opening of the shoulder.

When below the height of the shoulder, begin to internally rotate the shoulder with the goal of touching the backs of your hands together - all in a pain-free range of motion.

Rotating Angels

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.

Neutral and pronated grips are also useful to train as they stress our upper body and grip differently. Change up your grip angles for best results.

Deadhang - Supinated Grip

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. This means that in order to train our mobility in an effective way, we will want to train our shoulder in all planes of motion. Rotation is an especially important ability of the functional shoulder. 

To begin this exercise, get your working arm into a 90/90, or goal post position while lying on a firm surface. Support your head in a comfortable position while you attempt to raise your hand off of the ground (the elbow maintains contact). 

You may or may not be able to lift your hand off the floor yet - that's ok! The important part is that you are activating the muscles that produce this motion. Over time, you will build enough strength and mobility to lift off consistently. 

If you find this painful, try reducing the amount of force or arm elevation (so that your elbow is closer to your body).

Shoulder ER Liftoffs

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. This means that in order to train our mobility in an effective way, we will want to train our shoulder in all planes of motion. Rotation is an especially important ability of the functional shoulder. 

To begin this exercise, get your working arm behind your back as best as you can while lying on a firm surface. Support your head in a comfortable position while you attempt to raise your elbow off of the ground. Once your elbow is at the same height as your hand, lift them both off of your back in unison. 

You may or may not be able to lift your hand off of your back yet - that's ok! The important part is that you are activating the muscles that produce this motion. Over time, you will build enough strength and mobility to lift off consistently. 

If you find this painful, try reducing the amount of force or doing this from a seated position.

Shoulder IR Liftoffs

Get into a quadruped position. Slowly alternate between arched back to rounded back positions, feeling movement at each vertebrae.
 
Look up as you arch, look down as you round and push through your arms.

With Cat Camel, we are training spinal mobility and hip/spine dissociation, which is important for proper articulation with movement. We want each segment of your spine to be able to move and interact with each other. Typically after injury, segments of the spine have reduced range of motion. 

The old adage – if you don’t use it, you lose it – applies here. 

Our ability to compensate and use only certain parts of our spines can trick us into thinking we are more mobile than we are. These areas that have forgotten how to move can lead to other issues if left unaddressed.

Cat Camel

This drill is great for improving our core stability, glute activation, as well as our shoulder, elbow and wrist stability in an extended position. This is a great one to train to improve our upper body pushing strength and coordination, which will translate to our handed skills. In Tricking, this also mimics falling with an outstretched hand, which can be protective against future issues. 

Prop your arms at a comfortable distance directly behind you. Having your fingers pointing backwards will challenge your wrist range of motion and encourage shoulder/chest opening. 

With your core and arms engaged, lift up by driving your hips towards the ceiling. You should feel this push come from your glutes. 

Hold the top position for 3-5 seconds before lowering, "owning" the position at the top of the rep. You should feel stable, while also feeling opening at the front of your shoulders and hips.

Crab Bridge

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

Actively pull your chest through your arms with the muscles between your shoulder blades. Roll your palms towards the ceiling to increase lat lengthening.

Active Lat Stretch

This drill is great for improving our anterior shoulder and thoracic spine mobility. 

While sitting on the floor, prop your arms at a comfortable distance directly behind you. Having your fingers pointing backwards will challenge your wrist range of motion and encourage shoulder/chest opening. 

With your core and arms engaged, scoot your butt forwards to feel a stretch in the front of your shoulders and chest. Try to make your chest "proud" to enhance these benefits.

Seated Shoulder Extension Stretch

Thoracic extension mobility is often restricted due to the forward head, rounded shoulder posture we often assume in the modern day. 

This can not only make the muscles tight in this region, but the joints of our spine get used to being in a flexed posture as well. 

If this is you, you will feel closed off in the front and tight in the neck and upper back. Tightness in this region can sometimes feel like a stiffness or pinch when we try to extend through the thoracic spine, or upper to mid back. 

For this mobilization, simply kneel in front of a box, put your elbows up and actively pull your chest through your arms using your back muscles. You can use your hands for feedback. 

Note that we limit lower back arch here to focus on the upper spine.

Thoracic Mobilizations - Kneeling, Bench

Thoracic extension mobility is often restricted due to the forward head, rounded shoulder posture we often assume in the modern day. This can not only make the muscles tight in this region, but the joints of our spine get used to being in a flexed posture as well. 

If this is you, you will feel closed off in the front and tight in the neck and upper back. Tightness in this region can sometimes feel like a stiffness or pinch when we try to extend through the thoracic spine, or upper to mid back. 

The yoga wheel is great for general upper thoracic mobility. Using a weight enhances the mobilization - but don't go too heavy. I'm using a 15 lb KB here. 

I keep my core engaged to focus the movement in my upper back while limiting it in the often-mobile lumbar spine.

Shoulder Mobility

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