How to improve mobility of shoulders where arms straight together behind back?
I attended one beginner course in CFT Lauttasaari where they said that this is a common problem with guys and recommended stick/bar training to improve flexibility and range of motion. This is necessary for safe training for technical manoeuvres such as clean and jerk. I want to hear your opinion about this, I think inflexibility can be a serious flaw and all power training should be done so that it does not get worse. My goals are to get such flexibility that I can safely train basic weight-lifting movements and play tennis without compromising power (and still having the range of motion). I made a little video showing how bad the inflexibility is here.
Which muscles and which movements do I need to address the inflexibility problem with hands straight behind back?
Perhaps Related
Arm cross stretching behind the back, how to improve it?
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I got an answer in the facebook group of Aalto Fitness (sport organisation in Aalto University). An answerer recommended the the video in Finnish after point 17.00 here (Finnish) and other answer pointed out the problem "Venytystä liikkeessä vastustavat hauis, etuolkapää ja rintalihas" (trans. "stretching movement is blocked by bicep, front shoulder muscle and breast muscle".
Movements in English
front shoulder(?)/elbow muscle here
bicep, how to get that more flexible(?)
breast muscle, how to get that more flexible(?)
I list here movements from Yoga, I am new to Yoga so there may be more movements to improve the flexibility. So far I have found:
Utkatasana (shoulder back version opens scapula)
Bridge ("Strengthens the spine, opens the chest, improves spinal flexibility, stimulates the thyroid")
Camel ("Stretches the front of the body including the chest, abdomen, and quadriceps. Improves spinal flexibility")
You honestly don't look that inflexible to me. It was a long video but I don't think I saw any front squats in the rack position which is really the weight lifting move that requires the most flexibility.
I've heard of folks getting shoulder injuries actually from them being too loose (i.e. too much stretching), but I don't have any data to back that up.
A couple of things I'd consider though, just for good shoulder health related to barbell training:
Do standing overhead presses, in a progressive lifting program (Strong Lifts, Starting Strength, etc).
Do overhead squats. Start with a broom stick before you have the Olympic bar up there. These are terrific for shoulder stability, and you'll need to learn them to do a snatch anyway.
I'll interlace my fingers, put my hands behind my back through a gymnast ring that's about waist high, drop on my knees, and that will bring my arms high up and stretch out my front deltoids.
You can also do a door frame stretch.
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