WAG Shoulder stretches

[Flyaway]

Dd's (7yo) coach told me last week after working BHS that her shoulders were very tight and she "needs to stretch bad". I asked for some suggestions, she told me to have her do the "cat stretch"?? Are there any other stretches that would be safe for her to do at home with me helping/supervising?

 

[ACoach78]

Yes, go read this guy's blog and then determine if her shoulders are really stiff.

http://www.hybridperspective.com/20...y-has-much-more-to-it-than-just-the-shoulder/

 

[BlairBob]

Well tumbling tends to compress your spine a bit. Some hanging from a bar or rings or rolling out her T-spine should loosen it up.

 

[Flyaway]

Hmm interesting article. I suppose it's possible in dd's case that it's possibly not her shoulders at all. I'll have to pay closer attention when she stretches.

This pic isn't at a great angle, so it's hard to tell based on it, right? But see how her legs and arms are bent? Is that a result of tight shoulders or tight back? Or is it more in her legs and arms? Coaches don't like the look of her bridge but don't give much guidance on how to fix it.

Thanks.

 

[BlairBob]

No idea whether it's shoulder or spine, but her bridge needs to be worked on by elevating her feet. On a box or down a cheese.

 

[BlairBob]

She has plenty of lumbar flexibilty as do many children. Hand placement is wide as well to compensate.

 

[gymdog]

Can she do pull ups, and hold her chin to a bar? How many? What about a straight arm straddle press?

 

[Ex member]

My dd is 7 and sometimes she does bridges where she lifts her heels of the floor so it looks like she is on tip toes but she has here arms straight, sometimes her arms are too far apart.

When they are doing bridges as part of warm ups/conditioning they have their feet elevated and they have their legs together and straight and their arms straight, they then swap round and have their arms elevated and their feet on the floor.

I just asked dd how they have to hold the bridge and she says they have to push their shoulders forward and push their chest forward (this is done with hands and feet on the floor),

My dd doing her bridge

 

[BlairBob]

Yep, off a block or on floor, you start with the knees bent and then push them straight to put load on the shoulders.

 

[Flyaway]

Can she do pull ups, and hold her chin to a bar? How many? What about a straight arm straddle press?

Yeah.., that's where she's weak. She can do one pull up, not sure how long she can chin hold. She hasn't been able to get all the way up the rope yet. She switched gyms mid-year due to a move out of state and she is notably behind the rest of her level 3 team in arm strength. Her bar skills are good though and her casts get better and higher each practice.

Sounds like maybe just more time doing bridges is what she needs??

 

[gymdog]

I think she needs more strength in her shoulders and upper/middle back to support the correct alignment in the bridge. Until then more time doing bridges is the last thing she needs.

 

[Flyaway]

I think she needs more strength in her shoulders and upper/middle back to support the correct alignment in the bridge. Until then more time doing bridges is the last thing she needs.

So how does she get more strength in her shoulders and upper back?

 

[gymdog]

Hold push up position with upper back rounded, push-ups. Then handstands with stomach and back against the wall. She can put her hands about 8 inches away to start, then kick her feet to the wall and try to push her shoulders straight. Then walk hands out and feet lower with straight arms.

 

[Ex member]

Yeah.., that's where she's weak. She can do one pull up, not sure how long she can chin hold. She hasn't been able to get all the way up the rope yet. She switched gyms mid-year due to a move out of state and she is notably behind the rest of her level 3 team in arm strength. Her bar skills are good though and her casts get better and higher each practice.

Sounds like maybe just more time doing bridges is what she needs??

Dd was very week when she started her development group, she couldn't even do a chin up or leg lift. I brought dd a chin up bar, when she first got it she couldn't even jump to a chin up a hold it briefly. As time went on she was able to hold her self in a chin up for a few seconds but not pull up, she worked on it nearly every day and after a few weeks she was able to improve the hold and then gradually she was able to do a chin up.

After 2 months in her development group (once a week sessions) she was tested and was able to do 2 hanging chin ups, 2 leg lifts and couldn't even do 1 dip between small P bars. Dd was the worst one in her group, then started 2 sessions a week in April and was tested again last week, dd could do around 5 dips, 6 leg lifts and 6 chin ups. Dd is now 3rd best in her group (dd's the youngest at 7 and the rest are 9, 10 and 11)

Time and conditioning works well. They do a lot of conditioning in their session, they climb rope, dd couldn't climb the rope when she first started but she can now climb the rope to the required height, they have to do it several times.

 

[Ex member]

So how does she get more strength in her shoulders and upper back?

Dd does the following at gym:

Rope climbs
Long front support hold
Elevated Bridges
Handstand shrugs against wall
Free weights - don't know what she has to do
Chin ups in both grips

Probably more, will have to ask dd later.

 

[ivyagogo]

That article was very interesting. I am obviously not a little kid and I still like to do gymnastics, but I will never be able to do a bridge. After years of shoulder pain, I was diagnosed with multi directional instability in my shoulders. I had surgery and that didn't help at all. PT helped somewhat, but I still have lots of issues with my shoulders. The real problem is that for years I have over compensated for laxity in my shoulders by over using all the other muscles around my neck and back and in the long run I am so incredibly tight that my chiropractor can't even move me and I'm all out of whack. Yoga has been helping, but after 16 months, it hasn't helped nearly as much or as quickly as I'd like. At least I can now blow dry my hair for more than a minute without having to put my arms down.

 

[Flyaway]

She is going from 4 hours/week to 8 this summer, so hopefully that will naturally help her strength. We've discussed getting a pull up bar (not just for her. Dh and I both would like one too), so we'll see. I hesitate to make her do much at home. She loves gymnastics, but having to do it at home would suck the fun out of it fast for her I think. However if her coaches keep commenting and requesting her to work on it at home, and it doesn't improve at the gym alone, we may have to go that route.

 

[vagymmomma]

I can't help you with exercises, but I have a gymnast who has similar flexibility issues based on the bridge picture. Mine is currently training L9 (competed L8 last season) so she's been dealing with this for many years (DD's issue was never strength though -- it was pure shoulder flexibility). It takes a lot of work to correct - I think increased hours in the gym will help some.

DD's coaches also urged her from an early age to do exercises at home, but these stretches are uncomfortable so it was nearly impossible to get her to do much even with reminders from us. Good news is that she still can progress, but it's definitely something she needs to work on now. Increasing flexibility gets way harder when they're older and it makes certain skills very challenging. DD's coaches have been doing extra shoulder stretches for her in the gym during warm ups and warm downs. It seems to be helping, so may be another option if you ask.