It Rubs The Lotion On The Skin

It rubs the lotion on its skin It rubs the lotion on its skin

Imagine this: you get kidnapped and thrown into a pit. Your captor demands that you put lotion on your skin, or he violently hoses you down. But you blew off mobility and stretching on your recovery days and can’t reach your back to put lotion on it. Your only option now is to lure that damn little dog into the pit and use it for negotiating power. Stretching and mobility doesn’t seem like such a waste of time now, does it?

If you haven’t seen Silence Of The Lambs, that joke made no sense. Trust me; it was funny as hell.

All kidding aside, can you put lotion on your back? All of your back, including the area between your shoulder blades. If not, you have shoulder mobility issues. It’s the most straightforward test I know of. Most of us spend the majority of our day in a fairly limited position (i.e., seated at a desk), so don’t be surprised if you struggle to do this. The fix is pretty straightforward but requires commitment on your part. We’ll get into the details further below.

The reason you want to do this (aside from the scenario above) is limited shoulder mobility will cause injury. Without good mobility, you’re forced to compromise your form to complete certain tasks (like a pull-up, overhead squat, or even a push-up). Compromising your form will lead to injury, injury further compromises your form, and the circle spirals downward from there. It may not be necessary to you now, but when you’re older, getting that can of peas off the top shelf without pain will be a pretty sweet deal, or maybe picking up those grandbabies you’ve been waiting for.

Fix It

The fix is simple and only requires a few minutes from your busy day. I’ll step away from my desk several times daily and do the exercises below while thinking through a problem. Bam! Two birds, one stone.

Touchdown

The first exercise is much like signaling a touchdown. If you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan, a touchdown is when someone from your team takes the ball and runs it into the end zone. This is a common technique for scoring points and winning football games.

Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys

Stand facing the wall, just a few inches away from it. With your hands at your shoulders, slide your arms up the wall to signal a touchdown. Pull your shoulder blades together at the very top, causing your hands to come away from the wall. Slide your arms along the wall back down to your shoulders. That’s one rep. Repeat 20 times. Move your arms slowly and feel the range of motion in each rep. This is not a WOD, be patient and deliberate.

Swinging Gate

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart; arms stretched out front at shoulder height. Step back with your right foot, allowing your head and right arm to follow as if you were a swinging gate. Return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Repeat 20 times with your right arm, then 20 with your left. Or do your left arm first, then right. I don’t care.

Pushups

Yeah, I know. Pushups. Do them anyway. Pushups are great for shoulder mobility because pushing off the floor provides a stable base for strengthening your shoulder while increasing mobility (if done correctly). Aim for 10 perfect pushups. If that means from your knees, so be it. Start on the floor with your hands just outside of shoulder width, thumbs slightly forward. Push using your chest and lats while keeping a tight core. No sagging, and unless you are going into a cocoon to become a beautiful butterfly, no caterpillar pushups. At the top of your pushup, push higher to get a few extra inches out of the rep. During this stage, focus on feeling your shoulder blades move from your back to wrap around your chest. This is key. Most of us who are desk-bound have frozen shoulder blades, and this will begin the process of returning them to their natural, fluid state. For extra mobility practice, do the pushups with different hand positions: wide stance, close stance, one forward/one back, fingers facing each other, and fingers pointing away. This changes the movement to get a full range of motion from the shoulder socket.

Today’s Tasks

Don’t forget to complete today’s tasks for the challenge.

  • Drink 1 gallon of water
  • Workout for 45 minutes
  • Read ten pages from your book
  • Stick to your meal plan

Once completed, head to the tracking site and mark them as completed to track your progress for the challenge. Tomorrow we’re going to talk about things that suck.