Movement Challenge – Day Three

Day 3 of the Movement Challenge is here! Today we will get off the floor and learn to use our shoulders and arms to increase our upper body mobility. We are almost half way through the challenge so don’t forget to keep increasing those steps. Remember we’re all working toward 10,000 steps by this Sunday. Enjoy the video and if you are new to the Challenge check out our Day One and Day Two videos as well.

Movement Challenge – Day Three

It is Day 3 of the movement challenge, and so far we have worked on getting more motion in the hips, as well as getting more motion in the spine. Now today we are really going to focus on shoulder motion. Before we get into our movement, I just want to give you a little information about how the shoulder works. The shoulder actually has to work really well with the shoulder blade, or the scapula. So for me to reach my arm out, that shoulder blade actually has to have motion, to be able to move out with my arm and with my shoulder. If I move up, my shoulder will actually rotate up for me to get good quality motion in the shoulder, as well as moving out this way. My shoulder blade has to make that same motion in order to get that good quality movement, putting our shoulders in a good position, and decreasing the risk of an injury. So our movement is going to start with just sitting, and you can do this at your dining room table, you can just simply sit in a chair at the dining room table, or if you have an exercise ball like this, you can use one of those. An exercise ball makes it easier for you to have a better posture. All you have to do is just put your arm up on the table, and if you need to, put a towel between your hand and the table. If you don’t need the towel, that’s fine. It just helps you slide your arm a little better. I want you to visualize how that shoulder blade works. If I reach out at a 45-degree angle, my shoulder blade is going to move out this way. And then when I go back toward my body, I want that shoulder blade to squeeze back in towards my spine. So I’m going to reach out and then squeeze my shoulder blade back towards my spine. Then I’m going to reach forward and then squeeze back towards my spine. And then you can also move it out this way, and then squeeze back towards my spine. So I want you to do this on both sides and do multiple reps in each direction. And then you can go to a standing position. This standing position actually helps us incorporate some trunk movement as well. So when I reach forward, I’m going to hip pinch, just on my hips, keep your low back nice and straight. I’m going to hip pinch and then come back. Hip pinch and come back. So I want you to do this on both sides as well. Just keep working on these movements. Keep working on the floor movements that we have already done, and tomorrow you will have a new video.