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Hello, I have been following this forum for quite some time and yet this is my first post. I know it's a little bit silly to ask for help in the first post, but now I am really looking for any kind of help. I am really sorry if this kind of posts are wrong. PROBLEM: Left scapula doesn't upwardly rotate correctly and thus, humerus only goes to 170°. Deltoid doesn't touch the ear. Also, I have a tight "something" between the upper trapezius and the clavicle, in the region closer to the humerus. I thought it was the levator scapulae, but it doesn't seem like it. That restriction makes my arm snap and crack every time I move it. There is no pain at all. The scapula is as well, lower than the right. BACKGROUND: Long time scoliosis and hipermobility but never really affected my strenght training. Had a head contusion (left side) a year ago. Had fully open shoulders before injury. Trying to "get rid of the tight muscle" to "train through the injury" made it worse and cause me pain in the rotator cuff muscles. Thus, I haven't done anything with my upper body in the last months. THINGS I TRIED I tried to fix it myself but I just made it worse. Went to a manual therapist who help me with the rotator cuff issues, but didn't do anything to the scapular faulty movement. I am going to a chiropractor 3 times per week. The scoliosis "may" what is causing my restrictions. So yes, my parents are spending a lot of money in something we don't really trust. Anyway, so far it has helped a bit. It feels really awkard, but I am feeling "better". My shoulder is still not "better". I should be doing "rehab work", but it feels weird to move my shoulder when the scapula is apparently out of place. I am uploading pictures of my back. Let me know if there's anything more I can provide. I have my x-rays as well. Please consider that I live in a third world country. It's not the USA, I can't simply "find a better PT". I am really glad that this kind of places exist in the internet. Looking forward for any help. Thanks you. Kinshiro.

Believe it or not, but it took me more than a year to get this "move" (steve atlas is demonstrating the move in the video below) down. I had terrible shoulder flexibility. Today was the first day I could do this, and I have a question. When I push my chest away from the wall to get my butt on the wall I notice that my shoulder start to internally rotate. I can hold the position and even relax, but is this correct? If I try to prevent my shoulder from internally rotating, then the move/stretch is impossible for me. Any suggestions?

Dear members, long story short, I am back in the gymnastic world after thinking for a long time about my weight training routine and where I was going (nowhere). Today, I did some testing to simply know at what level I am. I got some basic strength already: can do the frog stand for more than 15 sec, a flat tuck FL and L-sit on parrallets. However, I have big issues with mobility. For instance, I can't do a simple 1 leg squat on the negative portion with my heel on the ground all the way down, have problems going very low on the dip, impossible for me to do a straddle exercise etc. Do you have a basic flexibility-mobility drills routine that you would want to share, for my problems and also any other member that lack in this area. Thanks,

I think that I finally reached the point that the handstand is a real strength exercise for me, and am happy with it! Let me explain. When I was a beginner in the handstand, I could not comprehend that the handstand was (also) a strength exercise because I was reasonably strong to start with and I could hold a (crappy) handstand with the WRONG muscles without trouble. Now when focussing on wall handstands and freestanding handstand with the correct line I have strength problems in the RIGHT muscles: I finally FEEL WEAK in the trap muscles AND I AM HAPPY with it, because now I (think I) understand what all the others are talking about (on this forum) when they say you have to feel it in the traps. Especially when I engage PPT while trying to maintain open shoulders in the freestanding handstand, I get perfect balance but I cannot hold it more than 10 sec because I am weak! This is the first time in my life that am happy with feeling weak in the right muscles! The handstand is full off surprises....How did the handstand surprise you guys?

Hi everyone, below are my arms fully extended. My right being significantly worse than my left. I am wondering if anyone has any stretches or tricks to get my arms more straight. So far I've been doing a lot of skin the cat on the stall bars, but with my feet still on the lowest bar I can handle. I do some curls with a weight or elastic band, in between stretching sets. I had good progress for the first two weeks, but now it seems to be resisting hard and reverting backwards. Recently my right elbow / forearm closest to the elbow have been giving me some pain and tightness, a lot of painful popping every once in a while.

Hello everyone, about a years ago I hurt my right shoulder bench pressing and it has never been the same. I went to the doctor and he gave me a few rehab exercises to do with a 5 pound dumbbell along with the advise that I should never do any kind of overhead or incline pressing because it is bad for the shoulder . I did the exercises for 3 months or so with out any change. During that time I didn't workout at all and tried to rest. About 3 months ago I started doing calisthenics with some front lever and handstand training. My shoulder still bugs me but not really any pain. There is a lot of "popping sounds" though. The only exercise where it hurts bad is at the bottom part of the dip when my arm hits 90 degrees. The pain is in my front delt, the inside of my shoulder an inch or so behind my front delt, the back of my shoulder, and along the side of my trap where it runs close to the shoulder. Before and after every workout I perform Ido Portal's shoulder routine and do a few different shoulder stretches that Joshua Naterman showed on his YouTube channel. Please help me figure out what is wrong!

When I try the "Butt only to wall" handstand I notice severe problems. There seems to be an impossibility when I try to arch my back, open my shoulders and lean my butt (and legs) agains the wall. My back muscles get really tight and the back doesn't want to arch. This has been a great puzzle for me since I don't know what the main issue is (I know "shoulder" flexibility plays an important role but there is more to this and I can feel it). I included a video. Help is very much appreciated!

Lately I've been experimenting with taking cold showers for quicker recovery. I learned that after a cold shower my mobility (especially in my upper body) increases for a brief while! This sound off coarse absurd since the mainstream believe is that flexibility increases the more you're warmed up, but I am not talking about (passive) flexibility! An example: the lower traps do a lot of work in overhead motion of the arm. After a cold shower I notice that they seem much more power full and I can pull my shoulders more back/vertical! Does anybody here have this similar experience? If not try taking (only) a cold shower for 5 min and put the arms overhead (with ribs in, to feel the traps working extra hard) after this. I'm curious about your experiences!

Hi everybody, I have been doing gymnastics/calisthenics for about half a year now. I have been focussing on mobilty from the start. Despite the fact that I haven't really put any kind of pike stretches in my schedule I actually got quite a pike flexibility. So my question is: Do stretches like shoulder bridge increase your pike flexibility? Thanks in advance!

I'd like to supplement my lower body weighted work with some mobility pieces. I like Kelly Starret's Squat Series, as well as Kit Laughlin's soleus stretch, but they feature elements of pnf, which I read can damage growth plates in adolescents. Does this danger spread to: 1) the Contract-Relax kind of stretch, where one strives to increase the stretch as much as possible? 2) stretches where one moves in and out of the position, or oscilates through it? Are these safe? I'm fourteen years old, and am around 5 ft 6 in. I can't buy Kit's book as of now, as I am saving money for H1, and eventually, M1. As always, any and all help is appreciated Thanks, Aadil

Hello GB! Recently I've been watching Ricardo Sosa who is a contortion equilibrist with some extreme straddle and pancake flexibility. The question is.. Is it possible to become near as flexible as he is although you are past your 'learning' age of 13-14. Obviously I understand flexibility is incredibly difficult to improve as you age, but if it is possible, what would a stretching routine look like if you wish to get onto Ricardo's level?

Do any of you have experience or thoughts about Resistance flexibility? The physiology and mechanisms seem logical, but wanted to get some feedback from the forum on this one if anyone has any salient thoughts. The two camps that seem to employ this technique are Bob Cooley (www.meridianflexibility.com) and www.ki-hara.com. Dara Torres claims to use this to help her recovery and range of motion. Essentially, the technique involves starting in a shortened position and maximally contracting while the muscle is eccentrically lengthened either by a partner or by yourself. Thanks!

Hi, i was wondering how i can increase my mobility on the straddle position. I have been trying side splits not for a very long time , but i would be thankfull if you could share your own experiences. Thanks P.S first post here!

I'm currently working on developing my shoulder mobility so that I can open them up and perform a 'good' handstand. I have a common handstand problem: my shoulder angle is closed, my chest sticks out, and my back is arched. I was hoping that someone with experience in this area could comment on my plan: 3x/week: 10 shoulder circles on each arm with resistance bands (wrap the band against a pole; stand facing the pole, raise your arm above your head, and slowly move your hand in small circles, trying to maximize shoulder flexion on one end of the circle) 10 shoulder presses (kick into a handstand with someone to spot for balance. Allow your shoulders to close and your chest to sag, then press your chest in and your shoulders open; the spotter should provide enough assistance for you to reach the proper position.) 60s wall handstand with chest to the wall, inching hands in as close as possible 60s ring handstand, using the cables for balance, with shoulders maximally opened. This is supplemented by the static stretching I already do, which includes 2-3 minutes a day of deeply stretching shoulder flexion. Does this seem reasonable? Is there any obvious way to improve this plan? I've had poor shoulder position in my handstand for years and I'm eager to begin correcting it. Thanks in advance for any advice.