Day 242- Scarecrow with Arms, Elbows, Upper Body and then Legs

This exercise is an advanced version of the scarecrow that can strengthen all of the myofascial connections of back of the body.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your belly with your legs lengthened long beneath you.  Place your elbows to the side of the body directly in line with your shoulders and allow your forearms to be placed at a right angle to the elbows.  Inhale as you press your elbows into the ground to lift your forearms and then exhale as you maintain the angles of your forearms and lift your elbows.  Inhale again as you reach the head away from the tail and lift your head, neck, and shoulders while also reaching the bottoms of your legs away from you.  Exhale as you maintain spine extension and allow the feet to float into the air.  And finally inhale as you release to the floor.

Things to think about

This exercise is about endurance and functional strength of the postural muscles of the spine.  As you extend the spine imagine making a long arc with your body.  Imagine lifting two ends of a jump rope rather than folding a piece of paper in half

After doing this exercise find your way to sitting and enjoy your long and beautiful posture.

Day 241- Scarecrow with Arms, Elbows and Upper Body

This exercise adds the upper body to the arm and shoulder work of the previous exercise.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your belly with your legs lengthened long beneath you.  Place your elbows to the side of the body directly in line with your shoulders, and allow your forearms to be placed at a right angle to the elbows.  Inhale as you press your elbows into the ground to lift your forearms and then exhale as you maintain the angles of your forearms and lift your elbows.  Inhale again as you reach the head away from the tail and lift your head, neck, and shoulders.  Finally exhale as you allow your head, neck, and shoulders to descend to the floor followed by your elbows and your hands.  Repeat 5-8 times.

Things to think about

This exercise will improve your posture.  It’s a fabulous exercise to do once an hour if you spend time at a computer. 

You could also think about doing this exercise in your desk chair.  It is about finding the length of the body in spine extension, which can be done sitting too.

 

Day 240- Scarecrow with Arms and Elbows

This exercise continues to strengthen the back of the shoulder for postural benefit of the thoracic spine.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your belly with your legs lengthened long beneath you.  Place your elbows to the side of the body directly in line with your shoulders, and allow your forearms to be placed at a right angle to the elbows.  Inhale as you press your elbows into the ground to lift your forearms and then exhale as you maintain the angles of your forearms as you lift the elbows.  Inhale place the elbows back to the ground and then exhale as you allow the hands and forearms to release to the floor.  Repeat 6-8 times

Things to think about

Your going to look at the pictures for this exercise and you might say to yourself, “That doesn’t look so hard.”  At least that’s what I said to myself when I was learning this exercise.  You will be surprised by the challenged to the front of your shoulders.

This is a great exercise to do in a different relationship to gravity.  Try it while sitting at you desk.

Day 99- Puppet Arms on Foam Roller

This exercise is intended to stretch the rhomboids and release any shoulder blades that may be stuck.  The log also allows for proprioceptive feedback and massage.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a foam roller. Start by lying on your back on the Foam Roller.  The Foam Roller should be parallel to your spine.  Your knees will be bent and your feet will be planted in the ground.  To begin the exercise reach your fingertips towards the ceiling above your chest.  Inhale as the muscles between your shoulder blades stretch, which allows your reaching fingertips to pull the shoulder blades up and away from the log.  Exhale allow the shoulder blades to plop back on the log.  Repeat this 6-8 times. 

Things to think about:

This exercise is called puppet arms because you want to imagine that there are strings attached to your fingertips and that someone else is pulling your shoulder blades away from the log.  Then the strings are cut and this is what causes the shoulder blade plop.

Day 93- Puppet Arms: Single

This exercise is intended to isolate the individual movements of the shoulder blades.  It can be used to correct imbalances between shoulders and to relieve tension in the neck and upper spine

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted in the ground.  Reach your hands towards the ceiling with your palms facing the center.  Then reach one hand farther towards the ceiling so that you lift the shoulder blade off the ground.  Feel the muscles between the shoulder blades stretch and then place the shoulder blade back on the ground.  Allow the shoulder blade to rest farther away from the spine that before.  Repeat this process on the other side.  Repeat 8-10 times on each side

Things to think about:

This exercise will facilitate width across the back.  Imagine that each time you place the shoulder blade back on the ground that you are placing it just a bit farther from the spine.  Feel your collarbones widen as you continue this exercise.

Also imagine that each time you’re placing the shoulder blade back on the ground that your upper arm is plugging into the socket even more.  This will create a shoulder joint that moves efficiently and fluidly.

Day 92- Puppet Arms

This exercise is intended to loosen the tissue around the shoulder blades and the ribcage for ease in the head neck and shoulders.

 

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted in the ground.  Reach your fingertips and arms towards the ceiling and let your palms face the center.  Inhale as you reach your fingertips to the ceiling lifting your shoulder blades off the floor, and then exhale as you drop the shoulder blades to the ground while keeping your elbows long.  Repeat 6-8 times. 

Day 91- Elbow Circles with Figure 8s

This exercise is intended to increase range of motion at the shoulder joint and find movement across diagonal fascial lines between the shoulder blades.

 

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent, your feet planted in the floor, and the tips of your fingers touching your shoulders. Point one elbow at the ceiling and one elbow at the ground, and then begin circling the elbows in opposite directions. Repeat 6-8 times and the switch the direction of each elbow. 

 

Things to think about

This exercise can begin the process of correcting imbalance between shoulders.  Notice the relationship between the shoulder blades as you do this.  It is rare for our arms to be moving symmetrically and this exercise can help introduce efficient functional movement in the shoulder blades.