Love Your Shoulders: Improving Overhead Mobility

Overhead mobility can be explained simply as having adequate motion to allow the arms to be positioned overhead without compensation. Shoulder overhead mobility requires multiple moving body parts working together. Without adequate motion in the right muscles and joints, you run the risk of exposing other body regions to excessive strain due to compensatory strategies, for example, extreme extension through the neck, thoracic spine, or lumbar spine.

Overhead mobility is particularly important for overhead athletes such as rock climbers, basketball players, swimmers, volleyball players, and gymnasts, as limited range of motion at the shoulder is considered a risk factor for shoulder injuries, however, it is a functional movement utilized heavily by everyone during everyday activities such as putting away groceries, brushing hair, or changing a light bulb.

Addressing limited shoulder overhead mobility requires a multi-dimensional approach as much more than just the shoulder is involved in producing this movement. Good overhead mobility involves many body parts working efficiently and effectively together including the:

• Glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint)

• Scapulothoracic joint (joint between the shoulder blade and the rib cage)

• Sternoclavicular joint (joint between the sternum and clavicle)

• Acromioclavicular joint (joint between the shoulder blade and clavicle)

• Cervical & thoracic spine (and nerve mobility)

• Lumbopelvic control (and soft tissue flexibility)

Overhead mobility is primarily achieved with shoulder flexion or abduction, scapular abduction/upward rotation/elevation, and thoracic extension. Therefore, the muscles that will limit shoulder overhead mobility are going to be the ones that promote the opposite movements (shoulder extension, scapular adduction/downward rotation/depression). The main muscles that can become tight and limit overhead mobility include:

• Latissimus dorsi (promotes extension, adduction, and internal rotation of the shoulder)

• Teres Major promotes (extension, adduction, and internal rotation of the shoulder)

• Rhomboids (promotes scapular retraction, and downward scapular rotation)

• Tight Shoulder Capsule (surrounds the entire shoulder joint and provides a passive restraint to movement)

How to assess overhead mobility?

If you are wondering if your shoulder mobility is limited in overhead motions, here is a simple at-home assessment you can do to test overhead mobility and determine which muscle groups may be the culprit of any mobility restrictions. This test can also be used to obtain a baseline mobility measurement and track progress over time.

To perform the assessment, all you need is a wall and a stick/dowel (even a household item such as a broomstick will work).

Sit with your back flat against a wall. Hold the stick/dowel with your hands shoulder-width apart, and elbows straight. Using different grip positions will stretch different muscle groups:

1. Palms facing down (pull-up grip): this position biases the external rotators and posterior shoulder capsule.

2. Palms facing up (chin-up grip): this position places the shoulder in external rotation which biases the lats and teres major. Most climbers will probably have the most difficulty with this position.

3. Single arm (perform on each arm with the palm up and with palm down): compare your range of motion between sides

4. Full range of motion is the ability to get your hands within 10 degrees of the wall without breaking form, and without the stick rotating for the single arm test.

Click here for a video of this assessment.

How can I improve overhead mobility?

Improving shoulder overhead mobility can be simplified into three components:

• Mobilize any tissue that could be limiting overhead mobility with specific soft tissue work and stretches

• Activation and mobility exercises in the direction of the desired direction (in this case, overhead-directed motion)

• Stability exercises to enhance the overhead movement, maintain your increased mobility and strengthen the shoulder joint at these new end-ranges

Below are three mobility exercises that you can incorporate into your exercise routine to improve your overhead shoulder range of motion:

• Kneeling lat stretch with dowel - hold a dowel with palms facing up, bend your elbows so your forearms are perpendicular to the bench, and sit back towards your heels (3x15 sec)

• Overhead shoulder mobilization with lacrosse ball - place the lacrosse ball between the wall and the lateral border of your scapula, and move into shoulder flexion and external rotation by raising your arm above your head and turning the palm inward (1-2 min per day)

• Side bending lat stretch - cross the foot over the left, raise the left arm up overhead and bend towards the right (2x 20 sec)

Click here for a video of the mobility exercises! 

Original Article by Rachel Rubin-Sarganis

Photo of Len Chong Ice Climbing by C. Gilhooly /