PE2 + iM

Had an epiphany today that the further I am on top of my head, the less weight the arms/wrists have to bear (who woulda thought?). How's my body line? I have some shaking toward the end, so need to get that under control.

On the iM....that's not really a camera trick. There really is that much of an imbalance between my shoulders that I didn't know about until I filmed this. Is that normal?!? How is it otherwise?

Hi Patrick,

Your PE2 is coming along nicely. One thing that will help you keep your balance as well as take out the slight pike in your hips is squeezing your gluts. As far as your iM goes, imbalances are fairly common and can be formed as a result of a lot of different things. Just make sure that all of your exercises are done to accommodate your weaker shoulder in order to prevent possible injury in the future. Keep working hard! 

Hi Patrick,

elbows must be the reference and not the wrists. this means that in case of more hypermobility on the elbows you are not reaching the 90° at the armpit.

Basically do not extend the wrists and aim to the shoulder level with the elbows. for you case the imbalances must be fixed, if you have someone adjusting your situation during the exercise, i'm up for this solution.

4 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Hi Patrick,

elbows must be the reference and not the wrists. this means that in case of more hypermobility on the elbows you are not reaching the 90° at the armpit.

Basically do not extend the wrists and aim to the shoulder level with the elbows. for you case the imbalances must be fixed, if you have someone adjusting your situation during the exercise, i'm up for this solution.

Thanks for the feedback @Jeffrey Bittner!

@Alessandro Mainente I understand what you're saying about "cheating" by extending the wrists, and 90 degrees is measured by where the elbow travels to. What do you mean by the last sentence "someone adjusting your situation during the exercise?" Do you just mean a spotter that can adjust my arms until my elbows are even?

A friend or something from your family who can adjust your imbalances during the exercise, is by feeling the difference that you can correct yourself. a spotter or at least an assistance makes a big difference.

1 hour ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

A friend or something from your family who can adjust your imbalances during the exercise, is by feeling the difference that you can correct yourself. a spotter or at least an assistance makes a big difference.

Thanks Alessandro. In absence of a friend (because I like this stretch more than 1-2x per week and am not usually with someone), what do you think about putting a bar across my squat stand there, back up into it putting my wrists or elbows on top of the bar (still holding the dowel in my hands), and sink into the stretch? Similar idea to the pike hangs in HS2 in that you're using leverage/gravity to get a better stretch.

I do not like it too much. muscle imbalances must be fixed working one side at time.

I agree with Alessandro. Perhaps you can do a little extra mobility work on the more restricted side (L). If I understood it correctly, the leaning/sinking part you were proposing would not be so good, as that would turn the exercise into a passive stretch. I think the point of this element is ACTIVE mobility: you being able to raise the bar (not passively hanging like in a german hang). 

The idea you are proposing could be a good thing, if you use the bar on the squat rack as a visual reference to keep your elbows at even height, or perhaps adding the help of a mirror with the intent to focus on lifting as far as you can go with your left arm. Meaning, you temporarily focus on increasing your active ROM as far as you can take it on your left side, while your right arm takes the back seat (until the left active mobility catches up to your right). Once the left arm is level with the right, you continue to work both sides  evenly to increase your shoulder extension to mastery standard.

46 minutes ago, Eva Pelegrin said:

I agree with Alessandro. Perhaps you can do a little extra mobility work on the more restricted side (L). If I understood it correctly, the leaning/sinking part you were proposing would not be so good, as that would turn the exercise into a passive stretch. I think the point of this element is ACTIVE mobility: you being able to raise the bar (not passively hanging like in a german hang). 

The idea you are proposing could be a good thing, if you use the bar on the squat rack as a visual reference to keep your elbows at even height, or perhaps adding the help of a mirror with the intent to focus on lifting as far as you can go with your left arm. Meaning, you temporarily focus on increasing your active ROM as far as you can take it on your left side, while your right arm takes the back seat (until the left active mobility catches up to your right). Once the left arm is level with the right, you continue to work both sides  evenly to increase your shoulder extension to mastery standard.

Thanks for your thoughts, Eva, you make some good points. I was proposing the passive mobility as an additional exercise along with the active one - and it's probably a good mobility as a scaled down version of the german hang, but may not do anything for my active ROM imbalance. But I like your idea of using the bar (or anything flat) as a "level" to gauge that my shoulders and elbows are at the same height.

The only other thing I wanted to bring up is that I did get a separated shoulder and fractured elbow a few years ago due to a cycling accident (flew over the handlebars after hitting a pothole going down a steep hill). It was the least serious grade of separation and a hairline fracture in my elbow. Neither required anything but immobilization and rest, and I don't feel any ill effects whatsoever. I wonder if that has anything to do with the imbalance.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your cycling accident, although it sounds like you really lucked out!

Depending on what kind of rehab protocol you followed, my guess is that the cause for the imbalance may not just be the incident of the AC joint separation alone (or a contributing factor), but perhaps more so the immobilization, scar tissue and holding pattern that the body presents after trauma; along with your past sports history or combination thereof. Who knows, right? It’s hard to tell without a live assessment, but in your video your pec minor and anterior delt seem “tight" too. So yes, working on passive mobility (on the side/warmup) to open the anterior pectoral girdle is a good place to start, with eyes on isometric holds once you access a new range. Clearly, it’s impossible to strengthen a ROM that we haven’t earned yet.