SHOULD YOU BE PRESSING OVERHEAD (Assessing tight shoulders)

If you’re nearing the age of 40, much like I am, you're going to start realizing that mobility is the most important thing in CrossFit.

"But what about strength, endurance and kicking butt in a WOD?".

Yeah, those are important but at it's core, CrossFit is about functional movement and without a base level mobility you're not going to be able to do any of these things correctly and efficiently.




I see it.  Tight shoulders can create lots of unstable spinal positions and open rib cages in hopes of gaining a bit more movement, I know because I'm fighting these things every time I press. For many people it is not a matter of if, but rather when they will injure a shoulder.

In my early 30's I tweaked my shoulder.  I shook it off.  But nearly 10 years later it never really went away. Only now do I understand it.   Years of poor movement patterns and lack of mobility has created instability in my shoulder - the less "sexy" parts of training in my "youth" that I was neglecting has caused this.  Now even the most basic of movements such as pushups can cause a flare up which pretty much brings my training to a halt. Essentially, it was EGO and an immature look at training that lead me to push too hard, too fast with too little prep or foundational training.  Why?  Because it wasn't "sexy" or "cool" to do mobility or to work on progressions.  Only NOOBS do scaled right?  WRONG!  The opposite holds true. Noobs look like noobs when they get hurt or flounder their way through a complex movement.  Old timers aren't concerned about how they look to others, they know what needs doing to be the best them and they do it.  EGO no longer plays a role. Same can be applied to coaching.  I don't care if so and so can lift BLANK if they're perpetually hurt is that a win?  NO.

In a perfect world, everyone would hoist a loaded bar over their head. Grandmas and grandpas would overhead press their teenaged grandchildren while baking cookies and reminiscing about the old days, and setting a new world record in the Clean and Jerk would be an excused absence from school but alas that is not the case.  The reality is not everyone is ready to overhead press...yet.  No matter how much they whine that they want to.

Here are some questions you should ask.
Does your thoracic spine extend properly?
Are you able to brace your core tightly and lock your rib cage?
Can you get your arms overhead by your ears without having to crane our neck forward?


Basically can you hold a stable core position with a load overhead.
 ONE:  normal posture with head, shoulders, butt and heels against the wall.
 TWO: normal posture with arms locked out straight. I'm a bit tight.  If you look like number THREE, you need some work. Never overextend (arch) to achieve the overhead position.

By now, I’m sure anyone attending our Cherry Bomb classes has noticed the amount of attention we place on stretching and mobility has doubled.  Why?  Because I'm old and have learned my lesson the hard way and yes, stretching and such, is great for recovery and injury prevention, but that's not the only reason we place so much importance on it.  We want to be as efficient as possible in all of the movements. Increased efficiency directly translates to increased strength and increased work capacity. We work so hard in the gym to make strength and endurance gains, we often neglect the ‘easy’ way to get stronger: improving our positions. 

Here’s a simple Mobility Assessment you can do at home to test yourself and see where your weaknesses are. Remember, this is an assessment – the fixes will come in a follow up post.

Assessment 1

(looking for problem spots & getting your biceps by the ears... I AM TIGHT!)

THIS IS A NO NO

Point your thumbs behind you, get your arms as close to your head (and straight) as possible.  Get the arms back by the ears NOT out in front.  Don' ever extend to achieve position.  Keep the ribcage tucked down and not flaring out. Use a heavy weight (2x DB: 30/20)

Assessment: My right arm is not so great. The elbow slightly bent, arm is further away from my head and notice the angle.  I already know that, that shoulder has issues.  This is just the visual proof.

Assessment 2 

(looking for range of motion, tightness...I AM TIGHT!!)


Execution: With fingers extended, try to cross fingers, upper hand over lower hand. Repeat with arms in opposite position.  Measure distance from fingertip to fingertip. If fingers overlap, score as a plus. If fingers fail to meet, score as a minus.

Assessment 3  

(range of motion... I AM TIGHT!!! )

Go into a hollow position (feet and shoulder blades off the ground 1-2″) belly tight and rib cage closed, lumbar spine pressed into the ground. With arms locked out, keep the hollow and try to pull the bar back towards the ground.  Grab a broomstick if needs be.

Measure the distance from the ground to the dowel in inches.
Bar on ground = excellent NOT ME
1-2″ = good NOT ME
3-4″ = fair OH POOP
5″ or more = poor

Assessment 4

(Finally, perform the ‘leopard test‘ as a way of checking your thoracic spine)
Overhead Squat two KBs (Rx: 53/35)
If your overhead and hip positions are good, but you fall apart in this test, then you really need to work on your thoracic spine mobility. Nay, I need to work on my thoracic mobility.

Assessment: I’m falling apart. My arms are separating and I'm  struggling to stay upright. Since my hips are pretty good and my OH positions were fairly good, I can assume that my t-spine mobility is fairly pretty crap in comparison.
What this should look like is this... check out this link on how to.

MY  OVERALL SCORE:
Not enough mobility and I'm getting old.  Time to reassess my priorities.

So the point here isn’t to make anyone feel bad;  If that were the case I'd be miserable. Tight shoulders don’t make you a bad person, a bad crossfitter, a bad coach or un-fit. I just want you to have a long, fruitful, and injury free experience with Cherry Bomb and in life.

The best way to do that , is to check your ego at the door and do the boring stuff.  Not "sexy"  I know,
but critical to longevity.



Stay tuned for the next post which will provide you with ideas on how
to work on and maintain good shoulder mobility.


What’re the results of your test? What are your weaknesses?
Let me know.

BE AWESOME!  BE SAFE!!!