i know. hey everybody it's doctor jo and
secretive remy, and today i'm going to show you my 20-minute real-time shoulder stretches
and exercise routine. so let's get started. yeah. so i'm going to go ahead and get my timer started,
and we'll do the warm-up and then i'm going to tell you a little bit about how i have the timer
going. so we're going to do a one minute warm-up, and so i'm just going to start with some shoulder
circles just to kind of loosen up those shoulders. you want to go forwards and backwards. so you
can kind of do whichever way you want, but with the stretches and exercises we're going to do for
time. so we're going to do 30 seconds, then have a short break in between each exercise or stretch,
and then we'll have a long break in between each when we're changing stretches or exercises. so
then you can kind of roll back, forward this way. again this is just a warm-up to get the shoulder
muscles moving. going back. you can do a t motion where you're just kind of opening up the chest a
little bit kind of getting some movement in there, and then you can even if your shoulders aren't
bothering you too much, just make some arm circles, kind of a front to back. so we're just
kind of really getting everything just warmed up and ready to go into our stretches and exercises.
so again make sure you're doing forwards and backwards, or clockwise and counterclockwise
whichever way you want to do it. so we're going to go into the first one. it's just going to be an
exercise. it's still a little bit of just getting everything moving, so it's going to be a shoulder
flexion. i like to have my thumbs up, and all i'm doing is just bringing it to about shoulder height
or 90 degrees. some people might go all the way up, but for this one especially if you have a
little bit of shoulder pain, this is how i would start off with. and i would start with my thumbs
in that upward position. that just opens up your shoulder joint a little bit, and it's usually less
painful. so super simple, using both arms at the same time, going up and down. so i'm at a little
bit of an angle, so you you want to be straight forward and making sure that it's comfortable.
you know if you can't go up quite that high, if your shoulders are a little tight or arthritic,
just start where you're comfortable. you don't have to go all the way up to that 90, but if you
can that's great, and then if eventually you want to go all the way up if you can. you also don't
have to go as fast as i'm going. i'm just making a smooth continuous movement, but you don't want
to go fast,. you don't want to use momentum. so you don't necessarily have to count. if you have
to kind of start over and take a little break in between, that's good. that's what you want to do.
just make sure those shoulders aren't hiking up, they're staying down. so the next one is going to
be just a different angle, same kind of movement and this is called scaption. so scaption is not in
the front, it's not all the way out to the side, it's about a 45 degree angle. it doesn't have to
be exact, but that's kind of what you want to do. same thing i like keeping the thumbs up. and now
i'm going in that what we would call a scaption is us because it's in that scapular plane or
where your shoulder blade is kind of that angle. so a lot of times this movement is
actually a little more comfortable for some people than maybe right out in front
of you or right out to the side. so again go slow. if you want slow it down a little bit,
you know if you if you feel like you're having to use your whole shoulder to lift it up, that's not
quite doing the movement. and then bring it down just a little bit because if you're hiking up your
shoulder to try and lift up your arm, that means it's not moving freely and independently, and
that's something that you really want to work on. so i would rather you just go to here and
do your movement instead of trying to like hike them up. so really go in that pain-free range
without compensating. so again if you're if you're compensating with the movements, and you're not
really getting that exercise or that stretch, if it's a stretch that you really need, and again
i'm just kind of keeping it in that 90 degree range. if you want to go a little bit
higher if it's comfortable you can. so now we're going to go into some
stretches. one of my favorite stretches for the neck and the shoulder is the upper trap
stretch. and so that's the next one we'll do. i really like it. again there's a couple ways
you can do it, but i will just show you the way that i was taught to do it. in the way that when
i'm stretching i do it. so if we're stretching our left side first, i'm going to sit on that
left hand and i'm bringing my hand up and over where my fingers touching the ear and just pulling
gently to the side. so i should feel that stretch right through there in that upper trap area.
now some some stretches will have you kind of turn your head up and down. you can get a
little bit different stretch, but for this one, you really want to keep your head forward.
and you're just gently pulling to the side. so this is a full 30 second hold for that one
and then we'll switch over to the other side and we'll do two on each side. i know usually
if you watch my stuff, i like to do three 30 second stretches, but we're going to try and
keep it to the 20 minute routine because usually 20 minutes, once you get started, it's already
almost over, and it makes it easy and quick and everybody should have 20 minutes in their
day to take care of themselves. so again just pulling over. i'm getting that nice stretch
through here a lot of times when i get some of my headaches that comes from that side. i've had
a shoulder injury and a shoulder surgery before, so this stretch feels really really good. now if
you can't sit on your hand to keep that shoulder down, that's okay. you don't have to. you can do
the stretch without it, but you can also put your hand just behind your back. so like with this one
i'm just kind of placing my hand behind my back. i have found sometimes this is a little more
uncomfortable for people versus sitting on it, but you might get a slightly different stretch. it
really kind of keeps that shoulder blade down. so this is a good one to get that stretch in there,
but if you just have to keep your hand down, i'm still getting that stretch without doing
anything with my other arm, but this is going to help keep that shoulder down to get just a little
bit better stretch in there. so that's why i like to do it that way or even this way, and again
this is purely up to you. like i said, i've always kind of i learned it sitting on my hand, but i
actually do feel a slightly different stretch when i put it behind my back, and so whatever
feels comfortable for you again because you want these stretches to be comfortable,
um you know but a little bit of tension. maybe to the point where you're like if i go a
little bit more i don't want to do it anymore, but i want to be able to hold it for that 30
seconds without being in pain or going oh my gosh one two three four five, you know. you want to do
that nice slow maybe take some deep breaths while you're doing it just to really get everything
nice and relaxed. so the next stretches we're going to do we're going to do a couple capsular
stretches of the shoulder joint. and that that joint capsule maybe you've heard your therapist
or your doctor talk about it. it's kind of that capsule that goes around the joint and it can
get tight. it can get um you know really uh irritated in there. and so some of the capsular
stretches we're just going to do this one which is either a posterior capsular stretch, or sometimes
people just call it across the arm stretch. it's really great to open up that shoulder,
especially if you've got a lot of tightness and maybe some scar tissue in there. again you can do
this a couple different ways. i like to do my arm straight all the way across. sometimes that's
going to be a little uncomfortable for people. i'll go a little bit higher up my arm to stretch,
but you can just kind of push on your elbow if you want to. so again a couple different ways you
can do it. a couple different ways you can modify. if you are super super tight, you're not
going to be able to take it over that far. if you're just to here that's okay. maybe if you
have to come a little bit lower, maybe if it's uncomfortable to keep your arm up high, you can
stretch a little bit lower in the beginning kind of to modify it a little bit. so i'm still getting
a stretch. i'm not quite getting as much in that posterior or that back side of the shoulder,
but again i'm still getting that stretch, and then i can eventually work myself
up to a little bit higher position. some people will just place their hand
on their shoulders .so i'll show you that in the other position, just if their arm is
feeling heavy or again hard to kind of hold up, you can just kind of place it here and so it's
kind of resting, and then you're stretching over. so sometimes people get a nice stretch with
that one as well. and again you can just take some nice deep breaths while you're stretching.
if you're doing some diaphragmatic breathing, a lot of times that will really help those
muscles relax so you can get a better stretch. and then as you breathe out, you can push just
a little bit more. but again they shouldn't be painful. there should be no pain while you're
doing it. it should be uncomfortable a little bit. it should be you know that hurts so good kind of
feeling. i always say that you know it might hurt but it's kind of a good good hurt, and that that's
what you want to feel. you don't really want to be to the point where you feel like something isn't
going right in there. stretches should always have that it actually feels good, and it's doing
something kind of feeling and again just that nice stretch. breathing to get that extra stretch
in there is also really nice as well. and so then the next one is going to be for
the inferior capsule. sometimes this is a tricep stretch is kind of the same thing. it's
getting that capsule, but it's also stretching your triceps out as well. so we're just kind of
stretching and working the muscles all around the shoulder to get everything nice and loosened up.
so again, this is one just depending on how tight or uncomfortable you are. you're just going
to take the other hand and try and bring that elbow up towards the ceiling. so now i'm feeling
that stretch kind of underneath there. i might be feeling it in my triceps. again if you aren't
quite this flexible, maybe you're only to here, that's okay. you just go to your comfort level,
and what you can tolerate. and when you're feeling the stretch, if you're not feeling much of a
stretch maybe kind of reset yourself and try again. or if you have some flexibility maybe come
stretch from behind and get that stretch in there. and again you know this the terminology sometimes
there are different names different things, but they're really kind of stretching the same
area. so again elbow up trying to almost bring it up towards the ceiling. i like to go a little
bit more further back. some people will kind of pull in towards their head, kind of at this angle,
but i like to kind of go back a little bit more. but again try both angles. try the couple
different angles and see which one is best for you, and what stretch you feel like you're
getting the most because you know what works for me might not work for you. or you know what works
for someone might not work for someone else. so it's always good to just try a couple different
things and just see what feels good and works for you. and they both might feel good, so you
could alternate and do one one set of stretches. so i'd be you know going back this time, and
then i'd be going at the angle the other time. so again just getting those different angles and
different stretches usually will feel really good. and a lot of times when i try and do
my deep breathing when i'm stretching, i'll stretch, i'll do the breathing a little
bit more through my chest. but if you can get that diaphragmatic breathing in that will really
help get everything nice and relaxed as well. it's just because i'm talking a lot, sometimes
it's hard to get that diaphragmatic breathing in, but it really does help. so it's a
nice way to get everything to relax. and then last one on this side so again maybe i'll
pull a little more at an angle going that way this time to get that stretch. and i'm really just
letting my hand behind just kind of hang down. if that's a little uncomfortable, you can
kind of place it on the upper back or the lower neck area and just let it rest a
little bit while you get that stretch. and then so after you get those stretches in
we'll do another just quick exercise and these are just going to be shoulder squeezes or scapular
squeezes. and these are some of my favorites. um so this one will kind of be not really a big hold,
maybe a three to five second hold, but it's not going to be that 30 second hold. so the biggest
thing with the shoulder squeezes or the scapular squeezes is you're just kind of squeezing back.
imagine that someone's hand is on your spine, and you're trying to take those shoulder blades
and squeeze them back. now i'm moving my elbows backwards a little bit, but i'm using those
muscles in the middle of my back to squeeze back a lot of the rhomboid muscles to get that squeeze.
so it's not just pushing them back with my hands, but really squeezing back. again you can do kind
of a three to five second hold with that, but also try and keep those shoulders down while you
squeeze. so maybe you can only start off with a two to three second hold, that's fine. then
build up to three to five and then if you want to hold it a little bit longer you can. but this
is really more of an exercise, so just kind of squeezing back, coming in, but again keep those
shoulders down. so you don't want to bring them up and squeeze because then you're activating
other muscles. you really want to try and keep the shoulders down and squeeze back. you don't
have to use your elbows. i'm squeezing and i'm getting that squeeze without it, but a lot of
times the first couple times you're doing it, it's easier to have those elbows kind of guide it
back. but a lot of times if you take the elbows out of it, your muscles are going to work a little
bit harder to get that nice stretch in there. so then after you work those rhomboid muscles,
you might want to stretch them out a little bit, so one of my favorite stretches for
the rhomboids is just kind of a punch forward. if you're on the floor you can have your
legs out in front of you to get a better stretch, but you can definitely do them in a chair seated.
you don't have to have those legs all the way out, that might be a little uncomfortable. so i'm just
taking my hands putting them out in front of me, clasping them. i'm going to punch forward, and
as i punch forward, i'm going to tuck in my chin and arch my back behind me. so i should feel that
stretch right between the shoulder blades. so my shoulder blades should be kind of fanning towards
the front a little bit. now i'm getting a stretch in those rhomboid muscles there. so again this one
is a nice full 30 second stretch. really getting that good stretch in there, but again it shouldn't
be uncomfortable. so you know try not to push quite as hard if it's uncomfortable, or try kind
of resetting yourself a little bit just to get a nice better stretch in there. so again punching
forward, tucking in my chin, and arching my back a little bit. so i can even kind of kind of
slouch down a little bit to get the whole back curving like a c. so i'll even turn just
a little bit so you can see ,and get that nice stretch and hold in there. and so this is a
good place just to take some nice deep breaths. so now that you got that going we're going
to go into a PNF pattern, or proprio um neuroreceptive facilitation kind of movement. so
or neuromuscular, sorry. but this is a d2 pattern. and so i like to call it grabbing and throwing the
sword. so where you're going to start with your thumb down on one side and turn your hand opening
up like you're throwing the sword behind you. so the reason for the pnf motion is that you're
using different planes. you're rotating through the plane. so instead of like the first ones
where we were just going straight up and down, i'm grabbing i'm rotating those muscles, and
i'm opening my hand up almost behind me like i'm throwing that sword away. or i'm going into
the charge and oops my sword went flying away. so again this is an exercise. you're kind of doing
continuous ones, but you don't have to go fast. you can go at your own pace. make sure you get the
movement right. hand down, i'm grabbing the sword. the thumbs in that downward position. i'm rotating
up. as i rotate up, my hand opens up behind me. then i come back down. i'm grabbing that sword
in the air, and then i'm putting it back into the holster there. and so again, kind of rotating,
opening up. i like to watch my hand as i go. again keeping my eyes on my hand and then rotating
back down. so you can see a lot of times i'll have people kind of come down and then close it,
but it's a continuous motion. or i'll have them keep it closed the whole time and just open up at
the end. but you're opening up your hand as you're turning. so it's this motion. i'm opening up. i'm
closing it as i come back down. so it's not this and then this. it's a fluid motion opening up as
i go all the way through and then kind of closing. and so if this becomes easy, you can use a
resistive band. i do have some videos with that to make it a little bit tougher for you and to get a
little more strengthening and stability there, but make sure you have the pattern down first because
if you don't have the pattern right, it's really hard. and of course with the resistive band, you
wouldn't open up at the end unless you have the loop kind of tied onto your hand which you can do
it that way as well. but again thumb down closed, opening up as i go throwing it away, and coming
back in. and even without the resistive band, i can feel all my muscles you know working. it's
not like if i'm not using resistance bands i'm not getting any kind of uh good exercise in there
i'm definitely feeling it as i go with this one. so the last one we're going to do
is going to be a chest stretch. opening up the chest and stretching out those pec
muscles is a great way to kind of end everything because the way we're going to do it we're kind
of opening up the shoulder joints as well to get a little stretch in there. this might
be slightly uncomfortable for some people because you're clasping your hand behind you. and
so you're going to push kind of down and out. and then just push your chest forward. so this is
that full 30 second stretch. now if you can't clasp your hands behind you, sometimes people will
take like a towel and hold the towel so they're you know a little bit separated they can get their
shoulders back there then. but you still have that tightness of the towel to kind of hold on to. but
if you can clasp those hands together, that is a really nice stretch to get in there. and so i'm
just kind of pushing out and getting that stretch, and so you know i'm feeling it in that pec area
right there, getting those uh that chest area to open up which is again a really nice way to
kind of finish everything. and if you want to do this standing up you certainly can. sometimes you
can get a little bit better stretch because i can maybe push downwards a little bit more while i'm
pushing out. but even just right here, i'm getting a good stretch right through that pec area right
there. and then you can you know even kind of push out your chest a little bit more to get that that
better stretch. so this is a really nice stretch um getting everything kind of that we just worked
on in there, and that's it. so there you have it, that was my 20 minute real time shoulder
stretches and exercise routine. if you'd like to help support my channel, make sure and click on
the link up there. and don't forget to subscribe by clicking down there. and remember be safe,
have fun, and i hope you feel better soon.
