upper body mobility
How often do we overlook the stretch at the end of the workout? We skip over it thinking we don't need it or we don't have time for it. We'll just stop you right there and say you DO have time and if you still think you don't, make an effort to make the time. To help you out with incorporating these practices more fully into our weekly routines, we reached out to Cameron Yuen, a Physical Therapist and Strength and Conditioning coach at Bespoke Treatments. He's put together an upper-body mobility workout that takes only 5-10 minutes. So before you start your workout, let's get our stretch on.
Here is a quick (10-15 min) mobility routine for your upper body. This can be performed as a warmup as part of a workout or as a stand-alone mobility session.
Half Kneeling Shoulder Rotations
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Start in a half-kneeling position with one knee down. On the side that the knee is down, straighten out your elbow and reach up straight in front of you until your bicep is next to your ear.
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Once your arm runs out of room, rotate your shoulder inward so that your thumb faces forward.
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Continue the circle reaching back behind you, continuing to rotate your arm inward. As your arm comes to your side, your palm should be facing behind you.
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Come back around the opposite way by reaching your palm backward as far as you can while pulling your shoulder blades together.
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Once you run out of room, rotate your shoulder outwards so that your thumb is facing behind you. Continue bringing your arm up and over until you reach bicep by your ear. Make sure your elbow is straight as you bring the arm back down in front of you.
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Aim for 10 reps in each direction.
Shoulder Extension Bridges
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Sit with your knees bent to roughly 90 degrees and your arms behind you with your fingers pointing away from you.
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Push away with your feet and shoulders so that you bridge up to a tabletop position.
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In this top position, make sure you are squeezing your shoulder blades together actively pushing away from your ears.
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Squeeze your glutes to make sure you don't hyperextend your lower back.
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Aim for 10-15 reps here.
Thoracic Bridge
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Keep one hand down from the previous exercise, and reach the other arm straight up to the ceiling as you bridge up.
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Try to rotate through your upper back while keeping the hips square to the ceiling.
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Try to keep the shoulders away from the ears on the down side to activate your scapular muscles.
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Aim for 10-15 reps here.
Liked what you saw? Check out Cameron's Full Body Mobility workout here.
