*Check out our upcoming Sport Yoga Series if you need help with improving shoulder flexibility and health here – https://bit.ly/3KTzQK1
Flexible, mobile shoulders are KEY to performance, and a functional, pain-free life.
So today, I have a super simple shoulder flexibility test you can take.
This isn’t going to address every single thing, but it’s a good place to start, and it’s really easy to do.
THE TEST
Try to touch your hands together, reaching one hand over your shoulder, and the other hand up your back.
See the picture showing you how to do it on this post!
Here’s how you score:
EXCELLENT = fingers overlap
GOOD = fingers touch
AVERAGE = fingers are less than two inches apart
POOR = fingers are more than two inches apart
WHAT YOUR SCORE MEANS
Your results have real implications for your performance.
Specifically:
TOP ARM = shoulder flexion + tricep flexibility
If your TOP arm was tight, you are more likely to experience:
– Shoulder pain
– Rotator cuff issues
– Wrist / low back pain
BOTTOM ARM = shoulder extension + internal rotation
If your BOTTOM arm was tight, you are more likely to experience:
– Shoulder pain
– Shoulder impingement
– Shoulder instability / dislocation
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you scored excellent – awesome job!
(Keep in mind – this test does NOT address strength and stability, which are also key components of healthy shoulders … but that’s another article for another day)
If you scored average or poor, this is something you need to work on.
Everyone is a little bit different, and ideally we’d be able to evaluate you more in person, and give you true individualized plan of attack.
But if you’re working on this on your own, and you really aren’t doing anything now to address it specifically, a great starting point is the Sport Yoga series we have coming up:
You can reduce pain, improve performance, and potentially change your life! … starting with just one Sport Yoga session per week.
Cheers to improved shoulder health! –
– Forest Vance
Instructor, FVT Sport Yoga Series 2022 – https://bit.ly/3KTzQK1