Shoulder extension help

My shoulder extension is very tight. Probably due to my job. I use my upper body a lot, especially hands, forearms, shoulders, etc. Anyway my shoulder extension is so tight that i cannot even come close to touching my hands. Im talking over a foot away from touching. And there is a bit of tenderness in the elbows when I try to move them closer together. With that being said should i try to scale this stretch to where my hands are touching? I considered modifying the stretch by standing and grabbing the stall bars behind me with my hands touching. This puts my hands closer to my glutes but it feels like im getting a good stretch. Still super tight but i'll take what i can get for now  What do you guys think?

Edit* Oh yea im asking because in the video coach says the hands need to be touching and that there isnt much going on with wide hands. I def feel a stretch in the shoulders with wide hands but i dont want to waste time, especially with a problem area like this. 

Hi David,

Step number 1 is getting the hands together as stated by Coach Sommer. From there you can begin working on raising them, being sure to give the elbows time to adjust to the new exercise.

Hi David,

Keep respecting the elbows and be sure to not overly stress them.  Be patient and give them a chance to strengthen and adapt.

- First work on getting the elbows completely straight regardless of width.

- Then work on externally rotating the shoulders and retracting the scaps (pinching the shoulder blades together).  If you have achieved the correct position, your chest will be sticking out and your shoulders pulled back.

A nice drill for loosening the pecs and biceps is to hold position and roll the shoulders back and forth between internal and external rotation for reps.

- Then work getting the hands closer together.

- Then work on increasing the depth of your shoulder extension.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

awsome thanks guys

Yes, Thank you @Coach Sommer! I have the same problems, but i somehow suspect the problem is tight triceps - but i don´t know for sure. I was trying to bring the hands together to fast and now feel the elbow for quite some time which also slows prgress in HS and all upper body exercises - so listen to the Coach and go slowly

For the couches - should we even try the shoulder walks when the hands are so far away from touching or should we just continue instead working on getting hands closer together?

12 minutes ago, Jochen Friedrich said:

For the couches - should we even try the shoulder walks when the hands are so far away from touching or should we just continue instead working on getting hands closer together?

You should keep working them and building the rom over time

OK, Thank you very much