3 Overhead Mobility Exercises and When To Use Them
Decreased overhead mobility is one of the most common issues we see with many of our athletes. If you need to improve your shoulder mobility and health, read on. We’ll be discussing shoulder health and mechanics as well as going over 3 overhead mobility exercises and when to use them.
Why Overhead Mobility Matters
Our shoulders are amazing joints that can move through a huge amount of range of motion under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t using this range of motion on a daily basis so things can get stiff and tight.
We don’t always have patients and athletes train in the overhead position a ton because it isn’t always appropriate for their goals.
However, we do want to make sure everybody can get into a full overhead position without pain or significant compensation. This is a good indicator that all of the joints, muscles, etc. of the shoulders and upper back are working well together.
Not everybody moves the same, but we do think there are certain fundamental human movements we should all be able to explore.
Don’t let anyone tell you you’re screwed if you can’t get your arms overhead perfectly, but we hope to provide some guidance here if this is something you want to work on.
Why Does My Overhead Mobility Suck?
In this blog, we are going to focus on 3 specific reasons why overhead motion can be limited.
Thoracic spine and latissimus dorsi mobility issues
Lack of scapular movement and control
Decreased strength and coordination
We’ll tackle each of these individually, then provide some of our favorite drills to work on them.
Thoracic Spine and Lat Mobility
When you raise your arms overhead, your upper thoracic spine needs to extend, especially at the very top of the motion. If this doesn’t happen, getting your arms all the way overhead is next to impossible.
If your upper back doesn’t move, it’s hard to get your shoulders all the way overhead.
You can test this by doing the following:
First, slouch forward and attempt to raise your arms overhead. This will block the extension of your thoracic spine somewhat. Note how this feels and how far you get.
Now, stand up straight and bring your shoulders back. You should be able to lift your arms much farther. This is partially because you are allowing your thoracic spine to extend.
The latissimus dorsi (more commonly simply called the lat) is a big, broad muscle on your back and side that attaches to your arm. Check out the picture below.
If your lats are stiff, they will limit your ability to raise your arms without compensation.
This lat is a big, strong muscle that primarily works to extend (bring arm behind you), adduct (squeeze arm to your side) and internally rotate your arm). You can see that these are basically the opposite motions we are trying to encourage when going overhead so tightness in this muscle can be a problem.
Below is one of our favorite exercises to address both thoracic spine extension and lat mobility.
A Great Shoulder and Upper Back Mobility Drill
To do this exercise:
Grab a dowel with palms facing you, put elbows on a bench and sit back toward your heels
Bend elbows until a good stretch is felt in lats/triceps
Take a big breath in (think about breathing into the area between your shoulder blades)
When you exhale, drop your chest towards the floor
Repeat for 5-10 breaths
Scapular Mobility and Control
Scapular (shoulder blade) motion is another common limiter of overhead mobility. As your arms move overhead, your shoulder blades need to elevate and rotate upward. If they don’t do this, sometimes people experience decreased range of motion and pain.
Good scapular motion can be encouraged with the exercise below.
Serratus Wall Slide
To do this exercise:
Lean against a wall on forearms
Press into the wall like you are trying to hold something against it (you can also use a towel or foam roller between your hands/forearms and the wall). You should feel like your upper back broadens/shoulder blades move apart
While maintaining this pressure into the wall, towel or roller, slowly move up the wall
Once at the top, lean in a bit and elevate/shrug your shoulder blades to finish the motion
FYI the serratus anterior is a muscle that helps control the motion of your shoulder blade and is a major focus of this exercise. That is where the name comes from.
Shoulder Strength and Control
Even though some people have the mobility to get overhead, they can’t always achieve a good position because they lack the shoulder strength and/or coordination.
There are a lot of joints and muscles around the shoulders that need to work together to create good overhead motion. The exercise below helps not only build strength, but also control in the overhead position. It also helps you be aware of any compensations your body tries to use.
Overhead Press To Build Overhead Strength
To do this exercise:
Set up in half kneeling (one knee down) arms distance away from a wall
Grab a kettlebell (or dumbbell) in one hand and press the other hand into the wall in front of you
While maintaining the press into the wall, also press the weight in your other hand overhead. Also focus on not moving through your trunk at all (no rotation or arch). We want all of the motion coming from your shoulder.
How To Improve Shoulder Mobility and Health
As we said earlier, not everyone needs to train in the overhead position all the time. It depends on your goals, current level of fitness and comfort with this movement.
If you do something like Crossfit, good overhead mobility, strength and stability is not optional. Olympic lifting, pull ups, handstands, etc. require excellent control in this position. Same goes for my swimmers, baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, tennis players, etc. out there.
If you are merely looking to stay healthy and strong long term, you may not need to specifically focus on heavy overhead pressing and pulling. However, it is important you maintain your ability to reach overhead without pain or significant compensation.
If you are someone who uses the overhead position in your chosen activity or sport, go through all of the above exercises and assess where your issues are.
If you already know you need work in this area or you’re less experienced in this position, start slow and gradually work the above exercises into your training.
Shoulder Pain Treatment
If you’re dealing with shoulder issues (or pain anywhere else in your body), and you’re limited in your athletic pursuits CONTACT US. We specialize in helping people get back to the things they love to do without pain or limitation.
We work with athletes looking to relieve pain and optimize performance every day. Don’t trust your health and performance to someone who doesn’t know what athletes need. Wagner PT & Performance is built around the needs of athletes and active people. Come see the difference.