HS SPE1 - iM Form doubts

To start with I'll say I have very poor mobility on the shoulder and I definitely want to improve that (I cannot even reach half the way up in a wall slide), cause it affects me in all overhead work. This seems to be a good exercise for this purpose.

So I've been reading the posts about form check on this exercise and seen the demo video dozens of times now, and each time I see it the more the more I'm sure the lad dislocates a bit the shoulders (his elbows pit come a bit from facing each other to face forwards). In the forum people actually encourage not to dislocate the shoulders at all, so keep elbow pits facing each other. The feeling from one style to the other is totally different

On the other hand people seem to agree that keeping flat back and ribcage down is the way to go.

So, any acclarations on the shoulder form?

Thanks

I'm afraid this and IM:2 can be very slow to progress especially if you have tight shoulders, for me to get both IM's took over a year.

To answer your questions. You shouldn't dislocate, what really helped me "get" this IM was to do it on the floor (like PE:5) - you should really feel it in the traps. You might need to start with your hands quite wide to begin with.

Continue working your passive flexibility so your traps don't have as much to fight to get into position.  Wall slides will help.  

I also think doing a modified PE4 could be useful.  Lay face up on a bench/table/pommel horse and hold a bar overhead (horizontal).  Experiment with adding weight to find something that gives a mild stretch.  Relax into the stretch for a 5 count, use your strength to pull out of the stretch, then repeat.  Do it slowly and in control the whole time.

Thanks Murray and tex. Definitely is something really slow to get. I really want to get this flexibility not only for the course itself but to be able to perform safely any type of overhead work. I already got a tendinitis on my biceps tendon and supraspinatus due to this, so I dont wanna come back to OH work until I got this flexibility gold standard.

Murray, how often did you hit flexibility work for this shoulder issue. I've read what coah Sommer says about addingvolume in flexibility, and that this is not strength training. But I wonder what's the limit. Doing mobility /flexibility once a day would be acceptable?

And by the way, do you have now full ROM on shoulder? Seeing me how badly I perform at wall slides makes me wonder If I'd ever get normal ROM at them.

Thanks guys

Eduardo Escudero Sanchez said:

... I'm sure the lad dislocates a bit the shoulders (his elbows pit come a bit from facing each other to face forwards). In the forum people actually encourage not to dislocate the shoulders at all, so keep elbow pits facing each other. ...

 

I think what is meant by dislocate in this context is an internal rotation of the humerus relative to the shoulder joint. If you hang from a bar in an overhand grip (pull up) by your right arm and rotate your body anticlockwise, that motion in the shoulder joint.

That is not what you want to do for this im

You can also achieve an internal rotation of the humerus relative to the body by causing the shoulder joint to move on a little arc towards the rear.  In this case it will appear that the elbow joint turns inward but the humerus and the scapular are moving as a unit.  This is what the chap in the video is doing, and to the best of my knowledge this involves using the lower traps and the serratus anterior to 'spread' (which is how it feels to me) the scapular.