Overhead / External Rotation Stiffness

[Aaron Griffin]

So I got hit with some shoulder impingement a while back. Went to a PT and got it largely under control so I don't have pain normally. But I'm still off of overhead pressing for a while, just to make sure I balance out my shoulder and all that jazz. I still do handstand work, though (arms locked overhead didn't bother me - just about midway through an HeSPU)

My routine was scaled back to help clean up my shoulder issues, and currently includes ring pushups (RTO and PPP), ring dips (support holds and regular dips), pullups (pronated, supinated, neutral, and rings), and ring rows (regular and wide). In addition to this, I'm also working on straddle HS press (negatives and partials), as well as improving my L-sit and straddle-L (PBs and floor).

But I still feel like I'm missing something. I don't know what it is. I feel like reaching overhead is getting stiffer and stiffer, and my "overhead external rotation" (meaning the front rack position and bridge position) seems to be getting worse.

What am I missing, and what can I do to correct that?

[Rik de Kort]

Are you doing prehab? Have you been cleared for wall extensions?

[Aaron Griffin]

  Rik de Kort said:

Are you doing prehab? Have you been cleared for wall extensions?

I'm all done with PT now, and am pretty much able to do most things. Overhead pressing movements (which caused the issue in the first place) still feel a little weird, which is why I stay away.

I cycle my prehab work pretty often (novel movements being better), but usually include wall extensions, face pulls, shoulder W's, and the like. I am staying away from dislocates for a bit, as those feel like they might irritate the shoulder

My standard prehab/warmup goes something like:

• 
  [*:cixh9e6q] Full body joint mobility, joint circles, etc
  [*:cixh9e6q] wrist pushups
  [*:cixh9e6q] 1-2 shoulder movements (wall extensions, various Joe DeFranco things, face pulls, band pullaparts, etc)
  [*:cixh9e6q] 1-3 hip movements (full squats, cossak squats, leg swings, unweighted single leg RDLs, unweighted good mornings at various stances, etc)
  [*:cixh9e6q] 1-2 back movements (cat-camels, quadruped extension-rotations, supine rollups, etc)(

[Aaron Griffin]

I was away for a week and hoping to hear some advice here. So I'm bumping this post.

My primary concern is that I'm over-emphasizing the internal rotators in my strength work, so any prehab or stretching I do gets defeated. What strength work would hit the external rotators? Should I just add in some band external rotations?