It seems that everyone in my life has less than stellar shoulder range of motion. My boxing coach, ex-rugby-playing best friend, Greg Minnaar—world champion mountain biker after crashing in Snowshoe last month, my gardening mother and even me in the past as an over-zealous, younger yogi.
SHOULDER MOBILITY TESTS
The shoulder is one of our most versatile joints. It can flex, extend, abduct, adduct, and rotate internally and externally. Here are some tests to see if you have normal range of motion in each of these dimensions.
Bring your arms by your sides, palms facing back. Can you lift your arms straight up by your ears in 180 degrees shoulder flexion? Can you extend your arms back behind you, keeping your elbows straight, to roughly 60 degrees? Can you abduct your palms together overhead with your arms straight? Finally, drop your left arm, keep your right arm up and bend your right elbow. Can you touch the middle of your left shoulder blade with your right fingers in external rotation? And touch the middle of your right shoulder blade with your left fingertips in internal rotation?
If you find that your shoulder mobility is lacking in any of these ranges of motion, regular practice of the 15 videos in the course will get you back on track.
