Wall Extensions

[Blairbob]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyQKP48F5kY&feature=related

I prefer these with light DB, not a bar. I have my young boys do these unweighted or with ankle weights in their hand or something very light. Go slow like wall slides.

[jl5555]

This type of movement explained here is one reason why a site like this is so valuable. It reminds one that the simplist of moves are often the most useful. It also helps one to decipher why in spite of hard work that progress doesn't seem to come.

In my case while fairly flexible from yoga I was frustrated by not being able to take my handstand abilities to the next level. I have the strength to hold headstand for well over a minute and 30+s for handstand (unsupported, off the wall.) But I have trouble piking up to HS and HSPU eludes me. I knew I was fairly tight in my shoulder girdle but after attempting wall extensions the lack of my progress came to light.

I have been relying on back and arm strength to power over what is poor form alignment in my handstand. Lacking the ability to get full arm extension up next to my ears means that as I try to pike down or up my arms and shoulders collapse when not locked out.

Trying wall extensions I was unable to get much above 90 degrees. Wow! I've now incorporated this into my daily stretch routine and can see some progress just in a week. I might throw in the cuban press as well....

[mike.m]

what do the experts think about doing these on the floor ? Will I get the same results ?

[Charles Weill]

I'm no "expert", but I know that doing the exercise on the floor will give you less benefit than doing it against the wall. On the floor you have gravity helping to keep your back and arms flat. On the wall, you do not have that assistance, so it requires more strength and active flexibility to maintain good posture while performing the exercise. If you can only do the movement correctly on the floor, stick with that. Soon you will be able to do it against the wall.

[Erik Sjolin]

I don't suppose it would be acceptable to have your legs on the wall and your back/shoulders/arms on the floor? I do these at home, and everywhere on the walls there are either bookcases, mirrors or doorknobs. There's enough room for me to put my legs there (as long as they don't move), but not enough to properly move my arms.

[Amebix138]

^ Go outside and do them on the side of your house?

[MCem222]

I learned this exercise some time ago, except it was done standing with the back against the wall and legs at a very slight angle so the feet are a few inches from the wall. I can get a little more ROM this way (probably going from 90 degrees to 120 instead of 90 to 100). Can I do this until I get more mobile?

Also, I feel tightness and mild pain in my left arm while doing this. Occasionally, Ill get the same sensation trying to raise my arm laterally with my elbow bent at 90 degrees. I feel it along the side-middle on the outside of my left arm, right where the shoulder muscle ends and between the bi's and tri's. Whats causing this?

[Cole Dano]

The pain you feel very well could be impingement. Try packing your shoulder from the lat while doing this and see if it helps. In any case stop the movement when the pain starts to avoid future problems. Remember your scapula also need to move in this exercise so don't let them get pinned on the wall.

[MCem222]

Thanks Mr. Brady, but what exactly do you mean by packing the shoulder from the lat?

Also, I should mention, my left shoulder had something going on when I got mild pain with the movement. I worked my upper body and shoulder for a few days in a row with no rest, and overdid it. This has happened once before, where I remember I felt a sudden pain when I rotated my shoulder internally and reached behind my back, as if I were trying to touch the middle of my spine. Today I don't feel any pain, just a little bit of pull in the spot where I described.

Anyway, I really want to work on my shoulder mobility and stability. I made a thread six months ago about the problems I was facing, located here

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3255

Since then, I've gone to physical therapy, and its sort of better. I still get stiffness in my back a lot, suffer from dull pain during certain pressing movements and stretches, and feel like I have a long way to go in terms of posture, range of motion, and back/shoulder health. I'm really not sure what to do at this point- my physical therapy exercises are giving diminishing returns.

I think my problem has something to do with a lack of flexibility or ROM in my upper body. I feel like I have tight muscles, and have looked into myofascial release and found my thoracic spine and shoulders have a lot of trigger points. If I warm up and get really loose, everything feels better, but soon enough I'm back to tightness, dull pain, and weird stuff with my upper back.

Anyway, the point of this long post is, where should I go from here? I seem to have hit a plateau, and I want to break it and stop having these irritating problems

And if anybody is interested into digging further into this problem, I write my routine and workouts down here

http://bodyweightculture.com/forum/show ... hp?t=15828

[Erik Sjolin]

Is your "entire" back supposed to be on the wall during this exercise? If so, then I must have some particularly messed up shoulders. Through the whole exercise, it feels as though either my scapula are getting in the way, or something between the traps and rhomboids is pushing me away, keeping my shoulders from even touching the wall!

Needless to say, it's getting pretty frustrating (the shoulder flexibility, not the exercise. I've got a pretty good understanding of how difficult this is.)

[Tarun Suri]

Erik, might I suggest doing these on the floor until you're more comfortable doing them on the wall. I know I'll be on the floor for a while.

[Erik Sjolin]

Erik, might I suggest doing these on the floor until you're more comfortable doing them on the wall. I know I'll be on the floor for a while.

They are easier on the floor, so I'll probably stick with that, thanks for the advice.

I am a little worried about my handstand form, though, since it seems like my shoulder flexibility is the only thing keeping me from a straight line.

[Cole Dano]

Is your "entire" back supposed to be on the wall during this exercise? If so, then I must have some particularly messed up shoulders. Through the whole exercise, it feels as though either my scapula are getting in the way, or something between the traps and rhomboids is pushing me away, keeping my shoulders from even touching the wall!

Needless to say, it's getting pretty frustrating (the shoulder flexibility, not the exercise. I've got a pretty good understanding of how difficult this is.)

The floor advice is good, i accidentally discovered that wrist bands help this as they slide easily while on a hard floor. A down side with the floor is that sometimes the can hang up, make sure they still move with your arms.

Your description raises a flag for me, is there anyway you could post a video for a form check?

[Erik Sjolin]

Your description raises a flag for me, is there anyway you could post a video for a form check?

I could probably get something. Would you just need to see the Wall Extensions, or any other motions as well?

[Cole Dano]

extensions at the wall is all, maybe a front and side as best as possible. It may be nothing, but a video would confirm if there is any thing strange going on.

[Erik Sjolin]

Okay, so this is what I have;

The cracks you hear at 0:23 and later are my shoulder (like cracking your knuckles. Ugh.) I also threw in a handstand at the end to see just how bad my body line is...boy I tell you, you only realize how scrawny you are when you're on camera. :oops:

[Cole Dano]

That was quick!

Its mostly just tightness, but you may also be thinking that you have to keep the back of your arm against the wall, it needs to rotate so that when you get to the sticking point the armpits close somewhat, and the shoulder blades sneak around your sides.

Shoulders are closed in HS for sure, i'm struggling with the same thing, and there may be a connection with the wall extensions. Notice how your back is arched against the wall. Try keeping your mid back on the wall by contracting the abs. Keeping the abs tight in the HS may help. Arch holds are my work right now till this is solid.

While in HS i try to picture my rib cage as a ball and roll the whole rib cage back while tightening the abs till the body is fixed into a single unit.

Hope that makes sense.

[Erik Sjolin]

That was quick!

Its mostly just tightness, but you may also be thinking that you have to keep the back of your arm against the wall, it needs to rotate so that when you get to the sticking point the armpits close somewhat, and the shoulder blades sneak around your sides.

Shoulders are closed in HS for sure, i'm struggling with the same thing, and there may be a connection with the wall extensions. Notice how your back is arched against the wall. Try keeping your mid back on the wall by contracting the abs. Keeping the abs tight in the HS may help. Arch holds are my work right now till this is solid.

While in HS i try to picture my rib cage as a ball and roll the whole rib cage back while tightening the abs till the body is fixed into a single unit.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the advice, Mr Brady, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, that's about as straight as I can possibly get my handstand at the moment. Frustrating because it feels really solid.

I had a question about what the shoulders do in the handstand that I haven't really been able to get a good answer from (anyone I ask directly, anyway). When the shoulders "open", are they doing the sort of things that they're supposed to do in Coach's shoulder dislocates, or are you supposed to "open" them by lifting them straight out ahead of you and up without rotating them? I'm sorry that I gave such a poorly worded question. :?

Thank you again!

[Cole Dano]

That's a good question, its not a dislocate, its very similar to the wall extension - if you were able to get your arms all the way up, deltoids up near the ears, wrists touching the wall and the mid back at the wall. One of the many reasons why the extensions are good. Everything you can do to get the shoulders open is to your benefit.

If you squeeze your elbows towards each other and lift your back while in the HS it gives the idea.

[Erik Sjolin]

Okay, so a better way of thinking of the shoulder position would be to lift your arms straight up from the side (like a spread eagle, or straight arm wall extension), rather than straight up from the front?

I don't suppose you know of any good yoga stretches I could use as ancillary work I could use? I ask because when I hurt my hip a year ago, I started working warrior poses, and they helped a lot.

[MCem222]

Hey guys, I've recently started doing these again and I have a few questions

1. When I place myself on the wall, I make sure my mid back and head are touching. My butt goes very slightly off, and my low back doesnt apply the same pressure on the wall as my upper back. Is this OK?

2. My left arm is lagging behind quite a bit from my right. I noticed even in the starting position (at 90 degrees), I can touch all of my right arm to my wall, and flatten my wrist over the wall. With my left, I have to bend my wrist so my hand contacts, so the entire arm isn't on the wall. Even with my arm slightly forward it is the one to fail first in going up (I can't go up very far past 90). Whats the deal?

3. Should I be feeling this in my thoracic spine? I feel like I get a nice stretch there, and the mid of my spine is mostly where I feel it after I get off the wall.

[Coach Sommer]

It sounds as though you are having some significant issues with your left rotator cuff. I would recommend seeking assessment and treatment from a skilled active release therapist in your local area.

In the interim, the 90 degrees will probably be the upper limit of your wall extensions. Focus on working smoothly through the lower end of the movement with perfect form. You may also want to consider performing wall extensions from a supine position (lying down).

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Marlon]

I also havent done wall extensions in quite a while and have just recently started trying to implement them again. I have a couple questions about them, however, that some people have touched upon, but i still don't feel like i fully understand.

1. At the bottom portion of the movement, when your shoulders and elbows are both at 90 degree angles, should your scapula be protracted or retracted? For me there is an enormous difference between the two; when I'm retracted my wrists are at least 6 inches from the wall, but if I protract i can be in complete contact. In the video below I'm switching between retraction and protraction from a couple different angles.

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2. For the past two months or so, I havent been training at all, or I've been at an extremely reduced training volume because of some shoulder pain I've been having. The only position i found to consistently irritate it ("It" being a small naging pain deep in my right shoulder) is when my shoulder is fully open, such as when I'm doing handstands. That is until today when I tried wall extensions again, I feel a mild pinching sensation in the back of both my shoulders throughout the entire movement, but I get a painful pinch in the back of my right shoulder about half way between fully open and the starting position of the exercise

3. I realize that some other people have had similar questions about pinching sensations and shoulder pain which have received sufficient responses (start at the bottom of the movement and only go as high as you are able before the pain / you can't keep contact with the wall). I'm bringing it back up because I think I have a very different flexibility curve than most people. The bottom of the movement is the most difficult for me. I can easily keep contact with the wall when my shoulders are fully open, but i can't at all once my upper arms come bellow 90 degrees. Still the pain is in the middle of the range of motion for me, should I still start at the bottom of the movement and only work up until I feel that pinching pain?

4. Should I work the range of motion below 90 degrees even though I can't keep contact with the wall? or should I only go as low as I am able before my forearms start to come off?

[Cole Dano]

Marlon your shoulder movement is fine. There is a third movement in the shoulder blades that doesn't get mentioned enough. The three basic movements are up/down (depression/elevation) sideways in and out (retraction /protraction) and all important in overhead work - ROTATION

When this happens the bottom tip of the shoulder blade will come to the side and elevate, but the top inner corner will depress, the bottom tip will ideally also somewhat wrap around the side ribs.

The illustration below shows this, it is technically know as scapulohumeral rhythm.

Along with this shoulder rhythm comes a flattening of the thoracic spine which set the arm up to go overhead.

If this movement of the shoulder blade doesn't happen, you actually put yourself at risk of causing impingement/bursitis which once it occurs can set up months and months of shoulder irritation.

[Marlon]

So I see. Thank you for the response Mr. Brady, I'm glad I'm doing the right thing for the exercise. Looks like I need to keep studying anatomy too.