If you have access to gymnastics rings, another suspension training system like TRX, or even a stable overhead bar, you can lean into it with your hands while your arms are straight overhead, and gently induce flexion through your shoulder joints. Read more
Start with arm circles. Ideally, you want to keep your shoulder blades (scapulae) squeezed together as you take your shoulders through small, controlled circles, forward and backward.
Proceed to Cow-Cat to mobilize your spine and scapulae. Alternate between flexion and extension of your spine, focusing on controlled movement throughout. Read more
If you have shoulder pain and stiffness while using your arms overhead, I encourage you to add scapular mobility exercises to your self care routine, as optimal movement of your shoulder blades along the posterior surface of your ribcage is vital to ensuring proper biomechanics of your shoulder joints when your arms are raised overhead.
If you're new to scapular mobility exercises, I would start with the Cow-Cat drill found here: Read more
Hanging from an object overhead is one of the most effective ways of maintaining and improving shoulder and spinal mobility.
Be sure that you are warmed up before engaging in hanging exercises - ideally, you want to take your shoulders and spine through a solid warm-up and even work up a bit of perspiration to ensure that your tissues are well perfused with blood to prevent injury. Read more
This video demonstrates some movement patterns that you can do with a long stick or dowel. I shot this video indoors with hope that closer positioning to my tripod allows for easier viewing of these movements.
Using a stick to take your shoulders through these and other movements can help you identify and work through restrictions in shoulder, trunk, and hip mobility. Read more
For an overview of exercise progressions that you can work at to improve your mobility and balance in a systematic way, please feel free to visit our Mobility Exercise Progressions page here: