Simple Shoulder Wall Stretch

Here is a great, simple shoulder stretch that I love! It helps me to stand taller with better posture while helping me to maintain a health range of motion in my shoulder. For me, keeping my shoulder healthy and being able to reach as high as I can over my head for volleyball is really important. This awesome shoulder stretch is so easy that those of you with limitations and difficulties reaching overhead may just fall in love too.

How to Stretch your Shoulder

Position

Start with your feet hips distance apart with you feet facing the wall about 4 feet away. Lean over to place your hands on the wall about shoulder width apart, a little lower than chest height. Adjust your feet while you bend at the hips to keep your back flat. I typically keep a slight bend in my knees while doing this stretch, feel free to try it to see if you like it too! It is important is that you can find a position that you can relax into and breathe. You do not want to be in a position where you are experiencing too much tension, but be able to relax and allow gravity to assist the stretch. If you are feeling too much tension try moving your hands a little further apart from each other. Your shoulder blades should be down and back not up at your ears.  Relax and breathe deep!

Duration

A good goal to start with is to hold the stretch for a minute, but a quick 30 second stretch will make you feel better. I would try to work up to holding for 2-3 minutes when you have the time to really relax into the stretch.

Frequency

Aim to stretch three times a day.  In an ideal world the stretch would be when you wake up, half way through your day and at night, Obviously  I realize not everyone can do this, and once a day really does make a difference!

Variations

Be sure to make it your own stretch! Personally I like to alternate between relaxing my head and neck, letting it hang, keeping it in line with my body, and looking up at the wall. To me it changes the stretch to slightly different areas and I can see which one needs the most attention that day. Also change the angle of your hands by rotating my hands out a little bit. As you try small adjustments remember you can always adjust the distance between your hands to help you relax and stay in the stretch longer.

I personally feel a difference when I am able to stretch out my shoulders I notice I stand taller with better posture, and I hope you enjoy this easy shoulder stretch and you can feel the difference this simple stretch can make.

Enjoy
<3 Jessica
#GIGAC