30/08/2019
remember the hands in the pushups...?
🤸🏻♂️5 Step Shoulder Flexibility Circuit for Gymnasts🤸🏻♂️⠀
🚨Limited shoulder flexibility is, unfortunately, one of the most common, and most frustrating things gymnasts deal with. It causes many gymnasts to struggle with flat handstand lines, powerful tumbling or swinging, and can many times be a factor for shoulder, wrist, and back pain.
🤷🏻♂️Whether it stems from natural growth, lots of training, or strength imbalances, when left unchecked it can really limit an athlete. Like I mistakenly did as a younger coach, many people still jump to pulling on an athlete's shoulders or doing aggressive flexibility drills to help.
🤓After many years of reading the available research, talking with expert gymnastics coaches, and tinkering, I have found some really helpful circuits to use instead of just long duration stretching.
📚The steps in this circuit, shown with examples in the video are⠀
1️⃣30-60 seconds soft tissue work to lat, teres major, pec⠀
2️⃣x30 seconds specific stretching to lat, teres major, pec, and thoracic spine if needed⠀
3️⃣x10 reps strength work to upper back muscles⠀
4️⃣x10 reps active flexibility work with floor angles (can be scaled to wall or back as needed)⠀
5️⃣x5 reps eccentric chin up lowers with 5 second lower and 5 second pause
References if interested, and Pre-Hab download link below!⠀
Refernces
Soft Tissue (Beardsly 2015, Cheatam 2015)⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26592233⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4637917/⠀
Specific Stretching (Thomas et al 2018)⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29506306⠀
Shoulder EMG (Reinold 2009, )⠀
https://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2009.2835⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4687830/pdf/10.1177_2325967115613988.pdf⠀
Eccentrics (O'Sullivan 2012, Zollnar 2012, Franchi 2014)⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22522590⠀
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article…⠀
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24387247 #gymnastics #shoulderflexibility #SHIFT #TeamChampion
