Shoulder Conditioning for Contortion Forearm Stands
Shoulder Conditioning for Contortion Forearm Stands
Original photo credit (edits by me): Lexbe Images
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.
These are all variations of exercises I do with my contortion students that can be scaled up or down in difficulty to be challenging to whatever level you’re at. These mix of drills aim to support proper, strong, shoulder mechanics in both open and closed shoulder positions, both of which are needed for contortion-style forearm stands (and headstands and handstands too!). Every single one of these helps work on our external shoulder rotation to help train our shoulders in the “proper” position for contortion inversions. And many also help train your “shoulder shrug” muscles that help with engaging when trying to balance.
7 Shoulder Conditioning Drills for Forearm Stands (aka Pincha Pose)
1. Bent Elbow Scapular Push Ups
This is a variation off of the traditional straight-arm scapular push up. If you’ve never done scapular push ups before, it may be helpful to start with a couple of reps of straight-arm ones to get a feel for the shoulder blade motion first before dropping to your elbows for this version.
Start on hands and knees and lower onto your elbows, planting your elbows under your shoulders, forearms on the floor. Start with a “narrow snow plow” position with your finger tips touching - if that is easy, you can make these slightly more challenging by separating your hands and keeping your forearms parallel to each other while you do this exercise
Squeeze your shoulder blades together as your drop your chest towards the floor
Then press your elbows into the ground to lift the back of your ribs towards the ceiling, feeling your shoulder blades slide towards the sides of your ribs
Repeat, lowering and lifting your chest for 5-10 reps
Need to make it easier? Straighten your arms and work on your “regular” scapular push ups
Want to make it harder? Try doing these in a kneeling plank, or a traditional plank (straight legs, knees lifted). Separating your hands (so forearms are parallel to the outside of your mat) can also make this more challenging on your shoulders
2. Down Dog Push Ups
Start in a Downward Facing Dog pose: hands planted shoulder-width apart on the floor, hips lifted high, back flat (knees can be bent and heels lifted). Wrap the outsides of your armpits towards the floor to help externally rotate your shoulders
Squeeze your elbows towards each other as you bend your elbows, trying to lower then (with control) to the floor, planting them shoulder width apart on the mat (don’t let them splay out wider!)
Press into your palms to lift your elbows, straightening your arms back to your Down Dog position
Repeat, dropping your elbows to the floor, then pressing up, for 5-10 reps
Need to make it easier? Loop a mini band or tie a yoga strap around your elbows to help keep them shoulder-width apart as you lower to the floor. If that’s still quite challenging, try to just work the eccentric (lowering) portion of the movement, lowering with as much control as you can, then making your way back to your downward dog any way you need to to reset
Want to make it harder? Squeeze a yoga block between your elbows as you drop them to the floor, this will keep your external shoulder rotators super engaged as you work through your push ups. You can also lift a leg in the air to make these harder.
3. Dolphin Push Ups
Start in a dolphin pose: elbows shoulder-width apart on the floor, forearms planted (fingertips touching = slightly easier, palms separated and forearms parallel = slightly harder), toes tucked and hips lifted high, back flat, trying to press your chest back toward your feet to make a straight line from your hips to your shoulders to your elbows. Feel free to bend your knees as much as you need to to keep your back flat (or if you have very flexible hamstrings, you can totally do this with straight legs)
Lean forwards, hinging at the shoulders, to reach your head towards your palms
Then press into your palms to push your chest towards your feet, back to your flat-back dolphin pose (your starting point)
Continue leaning forwards, then pressing back, for 6-12 reps
Need to make it easier? Make your lean small, just lean forwards an inch or two, then press back. You’ll build up the strength to lean farther over time!
Want to make it harder? Lift a leg, and/or separate your hands (so forearms are parallel to each other)
4. Wall Block Push Ups
Start kneeling an arms-length away from a wall with arms straight, palms on the wall, holding a yoga block between your elbows
Bend your elbows until you can tap them against the wall, then straighten your arms back to your starting position
If that's easy, raise your hands an inch higher and repeat. See how high you can reach your hands up and still tap your elbows to the wall while keeping your back flat. If you have to arch your back, or your elbows flare out and you drop your elbow block, you know you’ve reached your hands too high
Once you find a challenging height for your hands, do 6-12 wall push ups with your hands at that height
Need to make it easier? Instead of hugging a block between your elbows, try these push ups with a mini band or yoga strap looped around your elbows to help keep them shoulder-width apart as you do push ups into the wall
5. Block Sandwich Lifts
Start by “sandwiching” one yoga block the long way between your elbows, and one between your hands.
Keeping your elbows bent 90 degrees and your back in a neutral position, slowly lift your elbows as high as you can (imagine you’re reaching your hand block behind your head)
Then lower back to your starting position
Repeat for 8-12 block lifts
6. Block Sandwich Shoulder Shrugs
Start with the same block “sandwich” as above (holding one block between your elbows, one block between your hands, both on the widest settings)
Keeping your elbows bent 90 degrees and back neutral, lift your elbows as high as you can (it’s OK if this is just a small lift and you can’t go as high as I can in the video!)
Keeping your arms position, shrug your shoulders up towards your ears, then pull them back down your back
Continue shrugging your shoulders up and down for 6-12 reps
7. Bent Elbow Puppy Pose Claps
Start in an elevated bent elbow Puppy Pose: place your elbows shoulder-width apart on a chair/table/bench, palms together. Waddle your knees backwards as you drop your chest towards the floor
Lift your chest until you can pull your hands apart. Slowly clap your hands open and closed 8-12 times (making sure you are moving your forearms and not just flexing your wrists!)
Need to make it easier? Walk your knees in and lift your chest more
Want to make it harder? Drop your chest lower to the ground
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