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The Bendy Blog: Flexibility Training Articles
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Working Towards “Cow Face Pose” Arms Rear Hand Clasp
Being able to reach both hands behind your back and touch or clasp your fingertips is a challenging goal lots of people like to work towards. This type of flexibility can be helpful for yogis who like to work on funky arm binds (it’s the same position used in Gomukhasana or Cow Face Pose, but the flexibility can translate to other arm binds as well), for aerialists and pole dancers who need funk shoulder rotation and behind-the-back reaches to grab their apparatus, and for regular Average Joe folks who want enough shoulder mobility to scratch an itch on their back. Personally, I find having a big range of motion in this pose helpful because it allows my to put sunscreen on my own back without needing anyone else’s help (maybe not a primary motivation for most people, but certainly a plus in my book!).
4 Bird Dog Variations for Bendier Backbends
“Bird dog” is a common flow/exercise from yoga that has been adopted by other fitness disciplines because it’s a great (and gentle) exercise for core control. Despite not looking terribly bendy (the goal is generally to keep a neutral spine), this drill can still be quite beneficial for folks looking to deepen their back flexibility. Let’s look at four different variations of Bird Dog that can help us target different areas of the backbending chain, so you can understand how to apply them all to deepen your backbending practice!
Is Nerve Tension Limiting Your Shoulder Range of Motion?
When it comes to being able to reach your arms overhead (shoulder flexion), there are a couple of nerves that - when under tension - can cause tightness in this range of motion. The two most common troublemakers are the ulnar nerve and the median nerve - because they impact very similar ranges of motion, I’m lumping them together in the same blog post. Let’s learn how to identify if they’re restricting your range of motion, and what to do about it!
Shoulder Conditioning for Contortion Forearm Stands
Whether you’re just starting to work on inversions like forearm stands and handstands, or have been practicing for some time but need help learning to balance, working on strengthening your shoulders - especially your good ol’ rotator cuff - will be a big help in stability and feeling controlled in these poses.
How to Get More Open Shoulders in a Bridge
If you feel like most of the bend in your bridge comes from your low back - you’re not alone! For the vast majority of the population, a bridge (or “full wheel” in yoga) is a low-back dominant pose, taking advantage of the natural curve of your lumbar spine. If your bendy aspirations are to even out your bend (and progress to deeper backbending poses), you’ll need to learn to recruit your shoulders and upper back.
5 Drills for Improving Overhead External Shoulder Rotation
Lack of external shoulder rotation - whether it’s for a backbend like a bridge, or a flat back shape like a handstand - can be a limiting factor for both flexibility newbies and aspiring contortionists alike. And this is especially challenging if you also struggle with shoulder flexion (being able to reach your arms straight overhead). Read on for a full routine to strengthen and stretch your overhead external shoulder rotation for bendier bridges and happier handstands!
The Importance of “External Shoulder Rotation” in a Backbend
Shoulders can be a confusing body part (ok body parts depending on how you want to define it!) - there’s a lot of different ranges of motion they can move. That’s why it’s so important to condition them and make sure they’re strong to support the multiple ranges of motion your movement discipline requires. For backbending and shoulder flexibility for things like a bridge (aka full wheel), forearm stand, or handstand, a common shoulder position to drill and strengthen is our external shoulder rotation to stabilize our shoulders and allow for a deeper bend in both the shoulders and upper back.
6 Cat-Cow Variations for Spinal and Shoulder Mobility
These are some of my favorite variations of the Cat/Cow exercise that help get a different stretch in your back and shoulders than the "traditional" version.
Beginner-Friendly Chest Stretches for Tight Pecs
Whether you’ve got tight pecs from bench pressing your life away at the gym, or from slouchy shoulders-forward posture that keeps your chest muscles in a perpetually shortened position - stretching them out will not only feel good, it’ll help ensure your shoulders and back stay healthy long-term.
Body Wheel Stretches for Back & Shoulders
Last week I talked about some of my favorite active back and shoulder exercises using a body wheel (or yoga wheel), this week I’m covering some of my go-to passive stretches using a wheel.
5 Puppy Pose Variations for Open Shoulders
One of my favorite stretches to work shoulder flexibility - especially if you’re trying to open up your shoulders in your bridge - is puppy pose. And just like with any flexibility work, it’s helpful to work on both your passive and active stretching, so here’s a short sequence to help you do both, utilizing different variations of the classic puppy pose.
Advanced Shoulder Warm Up for Contortion
Contortion-style backbending asks a lot of your shoulders. To make sure I’m properly warmed up before I practice deep backbending postures, there are some extra drills I like to include beyond my “regular” shoulder warm up and conditioning exercises that cater to the more difficult work shoulders will asked to help with in contortion, like extreme shoulder rotations.