how to progress shoulder mobility

I am currently on HS1/PE2>iM and I've still got a long way to go. I realize that I may have been progressing the wrong way. Should I:

 

1) place hands at width that allows arms a full 90* ROM (keeping the chest up). Over time, slowly work hands closer together until shoulder width.

 

2) Place hands at shoulder width and raise arms to end of current ROM. Over time, achieve 90* ROM in shoulder angle but always keep hands at shoulder width.

 

I had been doing #2 because it seemed easier to gauge progress this way, but progress has been a little slow. For the past two weeks I've tried doing #1 and have found that it is a) much harder and b) I was right that it is harder to gauge progress.

I'm curious to hear opinions on this too.  I've been using method #2 for about 2 months now.  I have improved my ROM significantly in that time but haven't yet achieved mastery level.  

 

Whatever you do I would suggest that you take regular pictures of your progress.

 

 There have been a couple times where I have felt discouraged at my own slow progress.  Then I take a picture of my latest session and compare that to the first picture I took. The difference is pretty exciting and keeps me motivated to stick with it. 

 

at the beginning

 

 

Recently

 

 

 

 

Option 1: Hands at width that allows 90 degrees and slowly narrow hands has been the option that most people found success with

alan tseng said:

Option 1: Hands at width that allows 90 degrees and slowly narrow hands has been the option that most people found success with

This. This is what Coach teaches. In general, for most exercises, always start at the easiest version/place which allows perfect form and full ROM. Stay there until you increase to mastery. Rinse and repeat.

For this one that would be start with 3-5lbs on a stick. Put arms as wide as necessary to achieve full ROM/90 degrees. Stay at the weight until you reach mastery width. Up weight a tad, move arms back out, and start again. I also recommend putting tape on your stick so you can easily see your progress, even in cm...especially on this iM.

@ Cadams

Hard to tell from the pics, but your bar/stick should be weighted at least 3lbs if it isn't. It's super important to recruit the correct musculature which you won't get from an empty stick.

I agree with TANSTAAFL.  For the tape, I put 3 sets of markings on my bar -- center, shoulder width, and shoulder width + 2 fists.  This helps me to easily gauge mastery for the 2 standards.  And I can gauge progress by which finger is on which piece of tape.

 

Hmmmm....now that I think about it "shoulder width + 1" might be better than "shoulder width" for tracking progress.

Only one tip. depress your shoulders.

@TANSTAAFL

Nope. No weight. I've been working on just improving ROM first. I can't even get the bar to parallel without any weight.

 

Would you suggest a different approach?

TANSTAAFL said:

For this one that would be start with 3-5lbs on a stick. Put arms as wide as necessary to achieve full ROM/90 degrees. Stay at the weight until you reach mastery width. Up weight a tad, move arms back out, and start again. 

 

okay,  I walked into that one.   @tex:  maybe the correct answer for me should have been "pay attention"

Thanks for the responses. The tips about marking the width with tape is a revelation! Project last night:
 

 In general, for most exercises, always start at the easiest version/place which allows perfect form and full ROM.

I get this idea in principle, but for many mobility elements there *is no* version or place that allows both form and full ROM and my question is how to know whether to sacrifice ROM or form as you progress. For instance, on swivel hips, it seems like the recommendation is to pull the knee as far as it will go without lifting the glutes. To me, that's keeping mastery "form" and slowly developing ROM in the relevant joints. Here, the focus is on the right ROM and slowly developing the form (hand width). Or am I missing the unifying principle? Or am I doing swivel hips wrong too? :-)

yamad said:

 

I get this idea in principle, but for many mobility elements there *is no* version or place that allows both form and full ROM and my question is how to know whether to sacrifice ROM or form as you progress. For instance, on swivel hips, it seems like the recommendation is to pull the knee as far as it will go without lifting the glutes. To me, that's keeping mastery "form" and slowly developing ROM in the relevant joints. Here, the focus is on the right ROM and slowly developing the form (hand width). Or am I missing the unifying principle? Or am I doing swivel hips wrong too? :-)

Yes, you are right on with the swivels and the principle in general. For some exercises, such as ABH, you can move to an easier progression to keep perfect form (i.e. hands back by sides instead of overhead) and you would go to mastery with that form before moving hands to a harder position. Obviously some exercises fall into an anomalous category, but you get the general idea.

 

Also, for swivel hips you can potentially create a less that 90 degree angle at the knee, which makes it much easier for greater ROM. Then when you reach master at your lesser angle, increase and start again. That would be one way to follow this principle with swivels specifically, but what you're doing is fine as well.

personally, having my arms wider made my shoulder hurt. I opted for a tad bit wider than shoulder width and finishing my workout with pec dedicated stretches from F1 through F3 from the HBP progressions. i don't know how wise that is in Coaches eyes, but i just couldnt find a way where i could keep my shoulders rolled back, depressed with chest high and doing the shoulder extension without getting pain in my right shoulder.