Shoulder Extension and Scapular Control

Today I realized one of my weakness is far worse than I ever thought possible.  Coach noted my supine shoulder extension was exceptionally pathetic at a seminar in the last year so I've been working on it and have made "progress".  At least that is what I thought until today when I was laying on a bench with my arm(which has suffered chronic shoulder pain for most of the last 10 years) was hanging off the side.  With my body laying on my scapula keeping it in place I have at most 10 degrees of extension.

I didn't realize how much I was letting my scapula tilt on the supine extension and the table stretches.  I am guessing that is not the way the body is supposed to work and is a large contributor to my pain.  How can I modify these exercises to learn the scapular control?  Is it just a matter of starting with a smaller ROM or is there something else I can do to learn the correct activation?

If that isn't clear I can post some videos tomorrow before the Super Bowl.

Retract, depress and externally rotate.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thank you!

I am going to keep a log of my progress on this stretch in this thread.  Boy does the scapular depression make this much more intense!

Try to keep the ribs down as when you are lifting the ribs you are not getting the movement from the glenohumeral joint.

On February 11, 2016 at 11:29 AM, Coach Sommer said:

Retract, depress and externally rotate.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

On that note... Mark Collins, I believe it was you that said a lot of what you learn here tends to go against things one would learn in PT school (not in a bad way). It seems that a lot of the work I see here in the GST programs recommend externally rotating the shoulder while addressing shoulder extension. Ive always been of the mind that external-rotation was geared toward flexion, while shoulder extension lends itself more toward internal rotation. Particularly when the elbows are in extension as well (i.e. straight-arm work). Is the external-rotation bias we do here meant as a way to put more emphasis onto the bicep and pec-minor?  

Great question. I would love to see what others have to say. I’ll give it a try:

The reason being is that part of what you learn in PT school is based on cadaver anatomy and isolated joint actions, and what a body does while laying/siting on a table, almost devoid of gravity, GFR (i.e. shoulder flexion with ER’ion, shoulder extension with IR’ion). Nothing wrong with that, except that in real life, the body performs in a more dynamic, integrated way. Muscles will do different actions depending on their imposed demands; the position of the body in relationship to gravity, whether the feet or hands are on the ground/apparatus (close/open chain) etc.

In contrast GST is about the body in motion. The training is specifically geared to acquiring gymnastic skills and performance excellence (movement efficiency), which requires a practical understanding of functional anatomy, physics, etc. In this respect, the goal is not so much to put more emphasis on one muscle or another for the sake of preference or bias. There’s always a functional/performance reasoning behind it ("it's better to do it that way"). For instance, to put the joints in the strongest position from which they can create and redirect the necessary amount of force (no more, no less), safely, at the right time and for the right reason.

The idea of extension and internal rotation comes from placing the hand behind the back. The shoulder will externally rotate well in extension. Think of the position you sit at the beach with the hands behind the body. Swimming and cricket are good sport examples of extension and external rotation.

The pecs are a big internal rotator, so the extension work in GB is great at fixing the pec tightness.

Thanks, Eva and Mark! Im sure that shoulder mobility (hips as well) is a primary focus for many. Extension in particular, as most of us likely spend a good majority of the day in a "closed" flexed position at work, school, car, etc. I think it's good for safe progress to know a bit more about why things are done the way they are. At least in terms of general bodily awareness and control. 

6 hours ago, Mark Collins said:

Swimming and cricket are good sport examples of extension and external rotation.

Can't say I know a single thing about cricket though, being from the U.S. and all...   

Maybe softball is a better example, when the pitchers arm goes behind the body.