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One Weird Trick: Installment 3 – Using Balls to Improve Shoulder Mobility

Many individuals have developed their whole careers to improving shoulder mobility. Before, the complexity of the shoulder girdle had plagued many individuals, whether it is from pain, dysfunction, or “I got this one really weird clicking thing that happens when I move like this,” type scenarios. I don’t claim to fix shoulders, but a funny thing happens when you do this one exercise called “Stir the Pot.”

Now, I’m not talking about stirring a pot of chili – although I would not be surprised that that is the origin of this exercise. In fact, when I first saw this exercise I thought it would be best called the cabbage patch, because of the circular nature of this exercise.
cabbage-patch

Wow what a throwback.

How Does The Cabbage Patch/Stir the Pot Exercise Help?

Well, thanks for asking Suzie. The first principle to respect involves understanding that sometimes shoulder mobility is limited due to positioning of joints, and activation of specific musculature.

If you find yourself in an extended posture, performing the Stir the Pot will certainly engage your anterior core if performed correctly.

The improvements from simply respecting antagonist and agonist relationships can see massive gains very quickly.

Positioning wise, improving your ability to activate your obliques will improve your positioning of your thoracic diaphragm. Bringing your “belt buckle up to your nose” will bring your pelvic floor/diaphragm into a better synchronous position with your upper body as well.

Scissor

Next, the interesting portion comes along with the circular motion of the shoulders and forearms on the ball. Interestingly enough, I believe that if done properly, you can achieve small ranges of motion into upward rotation of the scapula.

That is, if you can fix the thoracic diaphragm, and stabilize your upper body/ribcage, your scapulae will now have better ability to move upon this ribcage.

ShoulderMvmnt

Constant perturbations* from the unstable surface will require a reflexive maneuvering of specific musculature, namely the protractors, abductors, and even retractors and adductors of the scapulae as you perform your “stirring” motion.

Now you aren’t bringing your arms completely overhead obviously, but any improvements in range of motion in an overhead fashion will certainly translate to better motion overall, so you can hopefully do some really cool stuff, like handstands, overhead pressing, or even walking around with no discomfort.

Cues That Will Help

  1. Make sure to push chest and head away from the ground/ball.
  2. Improve motion by placing forearms directly into ball, not just elbows or just hands.
  3. Think of leading or creating small circles with your elbows.
  4. Keep a steady body as you perform this.
  5. Perform this exercise slowly – as you may not receive the same benefit if the exercise is performed in a fast and reactive manner.
  6. For beginners, try performing a stability ball stir the pot on the wall for a wall assisted and easier version.

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo

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One Weird Trick: Installment 1 – Half Kneeling

You ever see those ads online, talking about trying one weird trick to lose weight, or to gain muscle, or to attain anything instantaneously? I hate those ads, as most things worth sacrificing for involve zero tricks and lots of foundational work.

However, I’ve come to the realization that many of the things that I’ve come across in the fitness, strength and conditioning industry, and rehabilitation world are often thought of as “one trick that changed it all” for a few often commonplace items that begin with foundational knowledge. 

This series won’t have some scam – in fact it will legitimately give you a weird trick that will actually work, as there are tons of them that I have accumulated over the years of training pro athletes, weekend warriors, and everyday folk who wants to lose weight.

Legit Tricks of the Trade

One position I utilize quite a bit with many of our athletes and clients involve a half kneeling position.

Half Kneeling Med Ball Scoop Toss

Well, fact of the matter is that sometimes people don’t set up correctly. When they don’t set up correctly, an incorrect movement strategy may be setting up with knee valgus on the front leg (or knee caving in towards the midline), or the back leg pushing the lower back into lumbar hyperextension.

This problem is easily resolved – provide better cuing in whatever capacity to achieve a 90/90 position, with the top leg’s knee being directly over the ankle, and the knee from caving in.

Half Kneeling Exercises

The back side will have a dorsiflexed ankle (or sometimes, plantar flexed in order to avoid certain issues at the ankle joint), and the down knee will be directly underneath the hips in order to facilitate a better position overall.

However, this isn’t where the “one weird trick” comes into play. What happens if you achieve that coaching strategy flawlessly – everything looks good, but then when you ask them to row, press, chop, or lift from a half kneeling position, they lose position right away!

By applying a mini-band on the front leg’s ankle, and the back leg’s knee, you can achieve a co-contraction of sorts, that reinforces stability for someone who cannot control their single leg pattern.

In fact, this can be introduced into many other half kneeling exercise variations:

Now, utilizing the mini-band to stabilize is not something that you need to do for weeks on end. Instead, aim to recreate a feeling, and improve spatial awareness. After you’ve solidified this feeling, remove the band and request your athletes and clients to own that position as you continue through your half kneeling exercises by feeling those same muscle groups as a reference center.

Happy lifting!

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo