tight shoulder?

[LisaS]

I was reading this
In Defense of Overhead Lifting by Charles Staley and Keats Snideman
and there are several tests for basic mobility/flexibility (e.g. Thomas test)
and I failed this one big time with the right arm.

and this is the description of what it means.

The lower hand tests the length of the external rotator muscles: infraspinatus and teres minor. Ideally, you should be able to reach the lower angle of the opposite scapula.

but the article has little advice on what to do if this is your issue (some PNF movements, etc). So, assuming that failing this test on one side is a potential problem - what can be done for it?

[BjsAust]

I'm the same and been wondering that myself.

[UConnJulie]

Foam roll the thoracic spine.
Stretch the pectoral muscles.
Get the lower traps firing properly.
Do the towel stretch (just like the picture above but holding a towel in both hands, and using it to increase the stretch).

[BjsAust]

Ok, I'm doing all those except maybe the lower traps.

What sort of thing should I be doing to help that?

[UConnJulie]

Prone T, Y, I is a good one ... and there are others ... like face pulls, reverse shrugs ...

Another thing that can help with the range of motion that I just remembered, is deep breathing exercises (learned this at the Perform Better seminar in Boston last March from Gray Cook) ... I have to go back and read it if you want the exact details ...

[BjsAust]

It would be great if you could. I'd really like to fix this, its the only read ongoing issue I have (that I'm aware of).

[MindPower]

The deep breathing stuff is in this article here,
Limiting factors

heres the important bit Julie was talking about

I learned this trick after listening to renowned physical therapist Gray Cook not too long ago. He brought up a very interesting point concerning how we breathe and shoulder dysfunction. But first, we need to find out a few things.

1. Test your shoulder ROM (range of motion) for asymmetry. Make a fist with both hands and reach behind your back with both. Left hand internally rotates and goes up your lower back, right hand externally rotates and goes behind the neck. Have someone measure the distance between the two fists behind your back.
Now do the exact opposite (left externally rotated, right internally rotated) and measure the distance. Someone with poor scapular stabilization and/or poor thoracic mobility will have a noticeable discrepancy between the two measurements.
Note: For certain populations (such as overhead athletes: pitchers, quarterbacks, etc.) a noticeable asymmetry would be perfectly normal and should be expected.
2. Now take a deep breath. Seriously, go ahead, take a deep breath, I'll wait.
Did your shoulders rise when you took that breath? I'm willing to bet they did. Essentially, what you're doing is telling your levator, upper trap, and rhomboid muscles (all of which elevate the scapula) to fire... over and over and over and over. No wonder your shoulder hurts!
What you need to do is "reset" your breathing pattern to do more diaphragmatic breathing (breathe through your stomach). As Cook noted, we've lost the capacity to use our diaphragm correctly when we breathe. As you might've guessed, we need to fix the issue, but how?
3. To do so, lie on your stomach with your hands on your forehead, palms facedown on the floor, legs straight. Now take that same breath, but through the stomach. Basically, your low back should go up, not your chest/back. Do this for three minutes, making sure each time that your lower back rises.
4. After three minutes, re-test your shoulder ROM. Your shoulder ROM should've increased by a noticeable margin.

[UConnJulie]

Thanks MindPower, that was exactly what he taught us! Good stuff ...

[BjsAust]

Thanks very much both of you .

Hopefully I can beat this thing soon! Yesterdays workout was the first I've done with no should pain/difficulties at all for a while, so it seems the work I've been doing is paying off.