Wall Extensions are a relatively simple movement that can be quite effective in treating what I have occasionally referred to as "Bench Press Syndrome"; or a greatly reduced range of motion throughout the shoulder girdle due to an incorrectly designed exercise program. This movement also happens to be self monitoring, meaning if you begin in the proper position and follow a few simple instructions you should have no problems at all performing it correctly.
Wall Extensions
1) Sit next to a wall. Do not slouch, make sure that your hips and back are completely flat on the wall.
2) Raise your arms as though you were surrendering, pressing your upper arms into the wall. The desired position here is for your elbows to be shoulder high with your upper arms parallel to the ground; this should result in a 90 degree angle between your torso and your upper arms.
3) Once your upper arms are in the correct position, place your forearms on the wall so that your forearms are completely vertical. Initially, this will result in there being a 90 degree angle between the upper arm and the forearm.
If you are particularly tight, it is quite possible that you will not be able to even place your arms correctly on the wall for the starting position. In this instance, you may begin with the elbows pulled downward somewhat as long as the forearms are kept completely vertical at all times.
4) Now, keeping your arms, hips, back and shoulder girdle pressed strongly into the wall, attempt to slide your arms up the wall toward a complete overhead position. The shape of this movement will be a circling of the elbows/upper arms upward with the forearms maintaining a constant vertical position. Once again let me stress that you must at all times keep the forearms completely vertical or you will greatly diminish the effectiveness of this movement. This constant vertical orientation of the forearms means that as your elbows rise, the angle between upper arms and the forearms will continue to increase towards 180 degrees. How close you come to opening the angle to 180 degrees will depend on the current level of shoulder girdle flexibility which you possess.
5) There is a tendency to allow the forearms to come forward off of the wall as you ascend higher into the movement. Do not allow this. You should keep the forearms in contact with the wall at all times.
6) In all likelihood you will fail by a substantial margin to attain a completely extended overhead position. Do not however be overly concerned by this as at this point in time having an abbreviated R.O.M. initially is quite normal. Simply strive to go as high as possible, without compromising correct form.
7) Once you have extended upward as far as possible, reverse your motion and attempt to not only return to your starting position, but to bring your elbows as low as possible past the horizontal; all while maintaining an upright posture and the vertical orientation of the forearms. Remember also to keep the arms pressed firmly into the wall.
The above would be a single repetition of wall extensions. For the beginner with very tight shoulders, a single repetition may take anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds or more. I recommend performing 8-10 repetitions two to three times per week.
Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer
P.S. It is not unusual, especially initially, to experience some relatively intense cramping of the rear delts with this movement
. Enjoy!
SUX!