"Dislocates" and impingement

Scary title, but not what you think. I see a lot of the guys at my gym (conventional big box gym, so very tight shoulders) doing Dislocates. Always with a weightless bar, usually with arching, and usually externally rotating the arms so they get stuck on the back. I help when I can.

The question: besides the fact they won't make progress this way, what other problems could arise from this form? Impingement was my first thought, hence the title.

Crap form always equals crap results.  

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Impingement, shoulder capsule tear, long head bicep tendon tear, rotator cuff tear, chest strain, distal bicep tendon strain, wrists injuries. 

mmm something else?

Why is a weighted bar necessary? 

there's something about pushing the weight actively around that i can't duplicate at unweighted. it just feels better.

Weighted bar is required to activate the musculature.  Other than limbering up a little, an unweighted bar is a waste of time.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Lifting of the ribs will usually carry over into all overhead activity. The big problem with this is usually back pain and rotator cuff issues.

If you show them how to do it correctly and explain how it will help with all overhead lifting they will be converted. The dislocates really help with overhead squats, snatches, jerks and thrusters.

I often pick a guy who is considered big and strong then correct their form in front of the class. When they see him struggling with 2.5kg they will see the need for correct form and how beneficial dislocates are.

Coach Sommer said:

Weighted bar is required to activate the musculature.  Other than limbering up a little, an unweighted bar is a waste of time.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Wouldn't doing dislocates with a weighted bar be unsafe for my son?

i have a doubt regarding external rotation of the arm. When i try to dislocate from a full flexion position the wrong tentation is to internally rotate the arm in order to begin the dislocation, with elbow pits pointing forward. Isn't internal rotation this? I just can't understand, thanks for any clarification

GenericGymnast said:

Wouldn't doing dislocates with a weighted bar be unsafe for my son?

Why would it be safe for my elite athletes and thousands of other students around the world and unsafe for your son?

You need to study your GB courses more carefully.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Sorry, it's just that I thought it might hurt his joints due to his young age.

from front position moving to back position you internally rotate. from back position to front position you externally rotate. that is how i always thought it was done.

Check out this excellent demo video of dislocates from Singapores GST affiliate Bodytree GST

https://www.facebook.com/BodyTreeGST/videos/879930718760620/

GenericGymnast said:

Sorry, it's just that I thought it might hurt his joints due to his young age.

 

I'd expect it to hurt a lot *less*, and him to have a lot more leeway than most adults That's not to say they shouldn't still be approached with patience and moderation however.

Coach Sommer said:

Why would it be safe for my elite athletes and thousands of other students around the world and unsafe for your son?

You need to study your GB courses more carefully.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

 

 

GenericGymnast said:

Sorry, it's just that I thought it might hurt his joints due to his young age.

Out of sheer curiosity and academic interest, what could be an adequate weight for a child to start dislocates with?

Or, more generally speaking, how would one determine the appropriate weight for any weighted mobility exercise? Relative to the bodyweight as in adults?

The hardware stores around here sell 4 foot pieces of black and galvanized pipe with a 1 inch OD.   They weigh right around 3lbs and are the perfect size to slide standard (i.e. non-olympic) weight plates onto.    I've been starting all of my H/iMs with an empty pipe, and adding weight in 2.5lb increments after a month or three.

Leonhard: same as adults. Their bodies are starting out more resilient and mobile than ours. Use the underload principle. Start at a weight/ depth that is challenging but doable. Stick with it until it's normal, then stick with it some more till it's easy. Once it's easy for a couple of weeks, then increase the depth/weight (not both at the same time) and repeat. This overload, load, underload proccess takes several weeks each cycle usually (for instance coach's 12 week steady state cycles). As long as you follow it your risk of injury is very small. If you don't, that risk increases quickly.

Jason Dupree said:

Scary title, but not what you think. I see a lot of the guys at my gym (conventional big box gym, so very tight shoulders) doing Dislocates. Always with a weightless bar, usually with arching, and usually externally rotating the arms so they get stuck on the back. I help when I can.

The question: besides the fact they won't make progress this way, what other problems could arise from this form? Impingement was my first thought, hence the title.

Where do you work out? I have literally never seen a single person do dislocates at a big box gym in my entire life.

24 Hour Fitness and apartment gyms. In Austin TX. I think cross fit popularized them under the name "pass-throughs". Regardless, I see them done (incorrectly) all the time.

Interesting: these days I see a lot of people do ass-to-grass back squats which, when I was in college was quite rare. Hell, most people barely made it to parallel. It's a good sign and I think Crossfit gets a lot of credit for that as well.

I've actually noticed ATG squats are rarer than the Dislocates, at least around here. I've only ever seen girls do them, maybe 3 in the past year. To be fair, it looks like a lot of guys are getting as low as they can, they are just immobile.