The Importance of Shoulder Hyperextension Strength & Mobility and How to Improve It!

Aloha my friends, and Happy Fitness-Tip Friday!

One of the most common and dangerous deficiencies in both weightlifters and the general population is a lack of adequate strength and mobility with SHOULDER HYPEREXTENSION!

“Shoulder hyperextension” refers to the movement of the arm back BEHIND the body at the shoulder (independent of whether the elbow is bent or not).

Lack of strength and mobility with this movement is dangerous because:

• It forces the shoulder to compensate by rotating forward, which pinches the rotator cuff and leads to impingement injuries
• It creates a muscular imbalance that causes additional shoulder-related injuries, including biceps and pec tears
• It inhibits your ability to effectively work all the other shoulder muscles due to lack of stability to build on

Despite all of that, almost ALL weightlifters (and most athletes in general) are deficient at shoulder hyperextension to one degree or another!

There are two different things you need to do consistently to fix this.

1. Increase the FLEXIBILITY and MOBILITY of the muscles that are antagonistic to shoulder hyperextension (i.e. the shoulder flexors like the chest, biceps, and front delt – see Fitness-Tip Friday – Week 82 for more on antagonists)
2. Increase the STRENGTH of the muscles that perform shoulder hyperextension (i.e. the rear delt, triceps long head, teres major & minor, and the lats).

I’ll give you one example of each!

1. One way to increase the MOBILITY of the shoulder flexors is to perform MYOFASCIAL RELEASE on them (shown is myofascial release of the front deltoid – see Fitness-Tip Friday – Week 24 for more myofascial release)

2. Then one way to STRENGTHEN the shoulder hyper extensors is to hold a barbell behind your back with your forearms supinated, then alternately hyperextend your arms like you see below. You’ll want to be leaning forward to get the best resistance angle, and have your knees bent so that you can start each rep with the bar down behind your thighs!

Note – AVOID letting your upper body rock forward as you do this exercise (which is the natural tendency, especially if you have weak / undeveloped hyperextension) as much as possible… otherwise you won’t be getting much actual hyperextension of the shoulder. Your upper body from your hips to your shoulders should stay at the same angle throughout the entire movement!

Application: Improve your shoulder hyperextension with both strength and mobility exercises!!

Relevant Research Article(s):
      1) Stability and instability of the glenohumeral joint: the role of shoulder muscles

      2) Hyper extension-internal rotation (HERI): A new test for anterior gleno-humeral instability

Related Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):         

      1) How to ISOLATE & BUILD ALL 3 DELTOID HEADS! (Part 2 – Everything you NEED to Know About Shoulders)

      2) Lifting With Shoulder Pain / Injury? This 10-Week Science-Based Program Will Change Your Life!

Related Product(s):         

      1) Shoulder Training Fundamentals Dr. Gains E-Book

      2) Gains Without Pains Total Shoulder Program