Once you achieve low oblique sitting, there are a few variations you can add:
The first variation targets both shoulders: one in closed chain contacting the floor, the other in open chain pulling against the resistance band. You may add an additional movement with the arm facing the ceiling such as shoulder external rotation or shoulder flexion as you elevate up.
The next exercise is much more difficult than it appears!
In the low oblique sitting position, reach out first by using your arms and continue to reach further and further away from you. The right humerus is fixed and the glenoid fossa is rotating over the head of the humerus. The left humerus is in open chain and is rotating over a fixed glenoid fossa.
-A progression you can make to increase demand of the hip (abductors and external rotators), shoulder girdle, and core musculature is to lift the leg up (as shown here with left leg elevation). Just like the aforementioned exercise, continue to reach and rotate further and further away from you.
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“When rehabilitating a rotator cuff impingement of a baseball pitcher, one should not just focus on merely stretching or mobilizing a tight glenohumeral capsule/joint and strengthening the rotator cuff muscles, but one may need to ask the question of “why” the rotator cuff is being impinged. Analysis of the movement pattern (e.g arm elevation or the throwing mechanics) must be performed, in order to determine whether the core stability is adequate and/or if a “weak link” in the kinetic chain is present. Such weak links may include poor scapular dynamic stability, impaired lower extremity mobility, stability and/or proprioception, and poor trunk mobility or stability.”1,2
Citation:
1. Kibler WB. Biomechanical Analysis of the shoulder during tennis. Clinics in Sports Medicine 1995;14(1):79–85
2. Kibler WB. The role of the scapular in athletic shoulder function. Am J Sports Med. 1998;26(2):325–336
