Hi
I've decided to reboot my foundation training, as my basics are in sore need of some attention. I have a nagging left shoulder (tension in the traps/scalenes) and both of them really need a mobility upgrade. My pec minor is tight! I am fairly strong in both pushing and pulling movements from a non GST perspective, but I believe my rotator cuff to be severly lacking. Any movement where I am not properly tucking my elbows and hence using the bigger muscle groups to stabelize my rotator cuff, cause a significant drop in performance.
I will also continue to work on my lower body strength and mobility, but that seems to be progressing steadily, so I will just continue with ease and let the process do its job.
My main mobility goals for my shoulders are:
-A decent back bridge.
-The ability the comfortable lower into a deep (!) german hang (IE: with shoulders relaxed and retracted at the bottom).
Will also be working on improving the pike and middle split.
My plan:
- As I have a sedentary desk job I plan to have a daily mobilisation routine to keep my body limber and avoid having it tense up to much in between the training sessions.
- I will vow to ensure I get enough quality sleep, and reduce my intake of caffine. This will be hard, as I really do love my black liquid gold.
- I plan to split my workouts into one day of HBP, RC and sPL, and one day of SLS,FL, SL and MN.
- HBP(PE2)&RC(PE2):Even though I have reached mastery more than once before, I plan to start out on basic push-ups and incline rows. I will however force myself to extend the elbow at about a 45 degrees angle out from my body to ensure I do not "lock" my upper arms on to my lats.
- sPL(PE5):Considering my planche work, I will do scapular push ups as part of my warmup as I find these a fantastic tool to get my shoulders prepeared. The progression I plan to follow is the planche lean, focusing on ensuring proper external rotation of the shoulder (elbows forward) before I lean too much.
- FL(PE2): I have previously done a lot of hollow work, but as my current endurance is lacking I intent on starting on tuck hollow rocks to force myself to regain it.
- SL(PE4): Arch up will be the starting point here. I am currently able to perform the mastery sets, but I do however feel I still have more to gain from the exercise before I progress.
- MN(PE2): Straddle up and jeffersons! The straddle position really seems to target a weak position for my hip flexors, and the jefferson curl is amazing for my pike mobility.
- SLS(SE4): I can do multiple ass to grass single leg squats, but my hamstring strength is not yet prepeared to rep out full glute ham raises (Have been able to do 1-2 reps). Hence I will work on the neutral version.
Questions:
- Does my plan seem sound? Any and all tips or recommendations are highly appreciated.
- I wish to implement some extra mobility work for my shoulder extension and flexion. Can this be done after my upper body work (HBP, RC & sPL) or will I do more harm than good?
- What frequency of strength work and mobility would be adviced? I have a fairly high recovery rate, though I do not wish to aggravate my shoulders tensing them up even further.
Thanks in advance for anyone leaving their feedback. This thread is partly made as a reminder to myself to be humble and put in the work, and partly to reach out for guidance of those who have a far more experiance and qualifications.
Cheers