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Good stretches for upper body 2 compliment benching/miltiaries

jj80

Member
Wondering what you guys do to stop yourselves getting too tight after developing strength in the chest and traps/shoulders from military press and benching. I'm noticing some tightness and difficulty now getting my shoulders 'down and back'. I'm doing doorway stretches atm.

Got any good links to some youtube videos or websites?

I did some googling but came up with 1000 links to mens health type articles which I don't really trust or can't regard as a good 'complete' resource.
 
I stretch through a doorway holding onto the door jams on each side. Opens the chest and stretches the traps. I also do shoulder dislocations with a powerband.
 
I stretch through a doorway holding onto the door jams on each side. Opens the chest and stretches the traps. I also do shoulder dislocations with a powerband.

Guys can't really do that one if im guessing what you're doing correctly... When a chick puts her hands flat on the jambs she can walk through said door way and stretch out where if a guy does that he'd get stuck and cant walk through said door way....

+1 With shoulder dislocation with any form of band, l prefer doing them with that over a broomstick.
 
why are dislocations with a band better than with a broomstick? I find the (shorter) stick more challenging.

I am also in need of greater upper body flexation. Currently my regimen is using the rumble roller to free it all up just before my low bar squats, along with the dislocations. However the warm up sets still feel awkward as.
 
why are dislocations with a band better than with a broomstick? I find the (shorter) stick more challenging.

I am also in need of greater upper body flexation. Currently my regimen is using the rumble roller to free it all up just before my low bar squats, along with the dislocations. However the warm up sets still feel awkward as.

Its personal preference really. Just with the band l find theres constant tension where as with the broom stick theres only a small part of the movement where it gets 'hard / stretched' where as the rest is easy..
 
I like doing them with bands attached to the powerrack so I can move in any direction and pause on any position that requires stretching.
 
Its personal preference really. Just with the band l find theres constant tension where as with the broom stick theres only a small part of the movement where it gets 'hard / stretched' where as the rest is easy..

Bands will stretch to let you get past a sticking point, whereas the broomstick won't so if you're too narrow and inflexible it will just not move further.

I use both, usually the broomstick though.

A lacross ball to massage out the chest/anterior delt area is good to.
 
The only true way to maintain flexibility is to make sure the exercise you choose places the muscle worked through its full ROM, that means fully stretched to fully contracted position.
So place a muscle/s under tension using significant resistance.
 
Forget dislocations people don't control them properly and tend to lead to poor movement. Use a power rack and a bar. Set it around the height of the bottom of your sternum and then stand in front of it with your back to the bar. Grab the bar over the top at the widest point you can.Straighten your arms, dont push your chest out stay tall and in good posture and squeeze the bejesus out of your back muscles to get the shoulder blades down and back. This should create a stretch in your pec minor and pec major. It can be made harder by bringing your hands closer together or putting the bar up higher or bending your elbows. Make sure your shoulder never rolls forward at the top. Search mobility wod for the shoulder extension stretch it is near the start in the first few pages. This is a better, more controlled, easily progressed stretch that can get you a more pliable shoulder that allows you to retract your scapula properly and hold it when in deep extension (bottom of bench). It is hard to describe but easy to do once you see it.

There are a few good ones of there for internal rotation. You should also look at getting a hard ball into the pec minor to release it before the stretch. Do movements such as deep extension at the shoulder to contract and relax with pressure being applied from the ball. Hold the stretch for at least 3 minutes working on relaxing into it.

Work on light full retraction pushups, DB bench press etc as a means of actively stretching the muscles under load and teaching yourself good position. All of this together works quite well. Andy makes a good point but make sure you're not already injured first and that you start very light until the flexibility returns.

There can also be other issues such as restrictions in your scapula muscles (rhomboids, traps, rotation cuff) that can reduce your ability to move properly through the scapula. Your clavicular head of the pec major (upper) can also be very tight and restricting your ability to move the shoulder too. It all depends on what you need.
 
Thanks for those, mobility wod looks good. I tried the stretch you talked about dave, just gave it a run, not sure how well I'm doing it but I do have a lot of red marks from rubber bands pulling my shoulders down. Shoulders actually feel a little bit better.
 
I used the power rack and bar method today, it felt like my biceps were going to rip off the bone when I lowered myself down for the stretch! :eek:
 
I used the power rack and bar method today, it felt like my biceps were going to rip off the bone when I lowered myself down for the stretch! :eek:

I think someone needs some bicep stretching as well. Bend your elbows a little bit to take the stress off of the bicep so you hit your pec minor.
 
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