On Day 3 of the mobility series, we will look to strengthen the muscles involved in pushing things away from our body. The motions include shoulder flexion, shoulder adduction / protraction, and elbow extension.
Within this, we also look at the spine's involvement in the push.

We begin by exploring our ability to move the arms across the body and over the head to investigate our mobility from right to left. Next, we will begin performing some crucial isometric resistance exercises to improve our overall range of motion by activating muscles. The isometrics will be done from an isolated to integrated approach. Next, we will perform dumbbell exercises for further strengthening. Finally, we will check our range of motion again.

As we check our final pushing range of motion evaluation, notice the quality and range of motion you have, being mindful of your form. Regular practice of this mobility workout will help you move better with more speed and efficiency.

Keep in mind that there are many things that affect our pushing ability such as:

1. The strength of our spinal muscles for stabilization
2. The placement and amount of any external loads
3. Our ability to perform on a given day
4. The ability our muscles have to work to shorten to contract to create the pushing motion as well as eccentrically allow for the contraction to stabilize the joint.
5. The amount of motion we have available at any of the involved joints.
6. The position of our wrist and shoulder.
7. The plane of motion we are moving through and whether or not our joints can do this efficiently (wide and narrow arcs)
8. Injury history and joint wear-and-tear. You may have to limit motions with shoulder injuries.

**There’s no shortage of upper body pushing in the average workout routine. Planks and push-ups are everywhere. Not only that, bench pressing is very popular among athletes. Pushing is often overemphasized and under-executed. Horizontal pushing tends to dominate when we think of pushing motions, but remember that pushing motions also need to include the dreaded overhead press. Training upward rotation of the shoulder as we push overhead is so important to healthy shoulder function.

Pressing motions require practice, since we can press from front to back (sagittal plane), or across from side to side (frontal plane) in a narrow or wide arc of motion. Mobility comes from first being strong enough to move our body. Push-ups and planks can be great exercises because they allow us to build up core stability, along with the shoulder and back strength needed to perform more advanced pushing movements like the Bench Press or Barbell Overhead Press. There are many kinds of pressing exercises: push-ups, overhead press, barbell bench press, dumbbell chest press, chest fly,and barbell overhead press to name a few.

Purchase the equipment used in this video from Amazon:

Neoprene Coated Dumbbells: https://amzn.to/3OCSr28
Yoga Block: https://amzn.to/3ewJAJK
Yoga Mat: https://amzn.to/2ZDSMrH

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