Monday Mobility: Clock and Walls for Complete Shoulder and Spine Mobility

Monday Mobility has always been one of my most popular threads.

Today though is a cracker, at least in my mind.

Much of the mobility work I prescribed is heavily influenced by the various martial arts disciplines I've been exposed to, some are from the gymnastics and movement culture and a great deal of it is influenced by the work of Gary Ward under his Anatomy in Motion teaching.

This one is pure Anatomy in Motion.

All you need is a wall and an imaginary clock face on that wall.

Now you reach for each number on that clock face until both hands have hit every number. It is that simple.

Have a look:

Now I mention this thing called "Glenohumeral Rhythm" which is a fancy term for how your shoulder blade (scapula) and arm (humerus) interact as they move.

Almost every person that has neck and/or shoulder issues has compromised glenohumeral rhythm. Is the rhythm compromised by the pain symptoms, or are the pain symptoms due to the compromised rhythm? Does it matter which?

Or is it more important to show the brain that the rhythm is there, show muscles that may not have had much stimulus how they can lengthen and respond to changes in length in a variety of directions.

The lifting community tend towards a shoulders back and down posture, which potentially leaves the shoulder vulnerable The bjj community, and office workers, tend towards a shoulders up and forward posture which absolutely leaves the shoulders vulnerable. Whatever your posture tends towards, if you stay living in that, it generally leads to issues, but if you move in and out of it with freedom, those issues fall away. This exercises in one that takes you through a great many postural possibilities, stretching and releasing pretty much every muscle as you do so.

So long as you ensure to really reach and allow the arm to "pop off" the body as you go, you will reap a lot of benefit from this. Spending 2-3 minutes each day, or every other day on this drill will offer some marginal gains that accumulate into some very significant changes in your movement and performance potentials. Give it a go and let me know how you get on

Regards

Dave Hedges www.WG-Fit.com