Hey, when’s the last time you packed without moving?

Dumb idea, you say.

No, really.

When’s the last time you packed so you wouldn’t move?

What do ya mean what’s the punch line?

There is no punch line.

That’s really an honest question.

I get the feeling you have no idea what I’m referring to.

No worries.

I’ll let you in on something everyone should know, yet few actually do.

When I say “packing without moving” I’m not talking about boxing your things up and sitting in the middle of your empty living room twiddling your thumbs waiting for my next cue.

It would be kinda cool if you did everything I told you to do.

Certainly you should do most everything I tell you to do as long as you are crystal clear of the intentions.

The packing without moving I’m referring to is better known as “shoulder packing.”

What’s that, you say?

Well, it’s what you do to keep your shoulders safe when performing exercises.

Never heard of it?

Well now, isn’t it just peachy that I’m dedicating this post to the explanation of shoulder packing and why it’s so important.

Lets start with a little anatomy.

Your shoulder joints are designed to be very mobile.  To keep them healthy and injury free, they must remain mobile.

Because we spend so much time in front of our desks these days, our chests get tight, our shoulders roll forward and we begin to lose that mobility very rapidly.

Once the body begins to adopt this unnatural position because of tight muscles, stress and tension, the shoulder is forced into a very compromised position.  Add the stress of performing exercises in this unnatural position and you are asking for serious trouble.  Injuries to the shoulder are common, painful and just as hard to live with as knee pain.

So what do you do?

You learn to pack the shoulders, that’s what.

For some reason, I have found women have more difficulty mastering this technique than men.

It probably has a lot to do with the differences in upper body strength and the fact that women tend to hold their stress in the neck and shoulder area whereas men tend to express stress in their mid back.

Learning to pack your shoulders takes some practice.  First you need to loosen up the thoracic spine which also loses mobility when we sit too much and fail to practice ideal posture.

Foam rolling does wonders for the thoracic spine.

Go to www.kneepainworkout.com and download the free video to discover the many benefits of foam rolling.

You can also use two tennis balls.

Here’s how you do it:

• Lie on the ground with one tennis ball on each side of your spine.
• Start with the tennis balls in your mid back.
• Place your feet flat on the floor directly under your knees.
• Perform 8-10 mini crunches.
• Be sure the back of your shoulders always come in contact with the ground on every repetition.
• Move your body down about two inches so the tennis balls roll up your back two inches.
• Perform 8-10 repetitions.
• Repeat until the tennis balls are between the upper part of your shoulder blades.

Little tender?

I know!

You never really know what’s going on in your body until you go poking around looking for stuff.  Good thing you’re doing it now before an injury lets you know about it.

Just remember, this isn’t an abdominal crunch.

I hate crunches!

They are fairly pointless, unless you’re training for a crunching competition.

So, be sure to focus on getting the back of your shoulders in contact with the ground every time.  That, in itself, is what makes the exercise so helpful for getting mobility restored in your mid and upper back.

Next, you’ll need to do some flexibility work for the upper back.

Insert the “Lying Push-Pull” exercise you see right here —>

How to do it:

• Lie on your left side with a stack of towels under your right knee which is bent at a 90 degree angle at the hip.
• Stack the towels high enough so that you can keep your right knee resting on the towels and still touch the back of your right shoulder on the ground.
• Your right arm will be the pulling arm and your left arm will be the pushing arm.
• Reach up with your right arm and grab an imaginary rope from the ceiling.
• Position your left arm as if you’re going to push an imaginary dumb bell to the ceiling.
• Simultaneously push the left arm up and pull the right arm down attempting to get the back of the right shoulder in contact with the ground.
• Always keep your knee in contact with the towels.
• Repeat for 15-20 repetitions before switching sides.

Think of it like this:

You are literally attempting to pull your ribcage to the right with your right arm while simultaneously pushing your ribcage to the right with your left arm.

Sounds a little freaky…I know.

Trust me, it works.

Alright then.

What’s that?

It shouldn’t be so hard so why are you out of breath?

Well, that’s because you have a lot of “undoing” to do, and that takes effort.

Fear not.  It’ll get easier.

Then you can look back in a couple of weeks and recognize all the progress you’ve made.

YAY!

So listen…

Go work on these two exercises for a couple of days and I’ll be back with a really cool exercise or two to teach you so your shoulders will be happy and you can go out ask your friends:

So when’s the last time you packed without moving?

Gets ‘em every time.

Until next time, my friend…

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance