Earlier this year when I made a video about how to plan your week, several viewers commented on the terrible Quasimodo-like hunched back I displayed. As a guy who spends much of his time sitting slumped over a laptop, I was aware I had developed a terrible slouch. And I wasn’t proud of it. Not only did it make me look unconfident and lazy, little did I know, my poor posture was also wreaking havoc on my upper body flexibility. I discovered this while filming another video — this time on how to do a low bar squat. Me getting my slouch on. Up until that point, I had never done a low bar squat; I had always performed the high bar variety. Getting the bar in proper position on the former requires a considerable amount of flexibility in the chest …show more content…
Roll the ball around on your chest until you find a “hot spot” — you know you’ve found one if it hurts when the ball rolls over it. When you find a trigger point, stop and just rest on the ball for 10 to 20 seconds. Contrary to popular belief, it’s the pressure, not the rolling, that smoothes fascia and releases tight, knotty muscles. Continue rolling and finding more trigger spots. I usually do a five-minute session of the pectoral ball smash 3X a week. Shoulder Dislocations This movement does wonders for loosening up shoulders that have become tight from years of turning inward while slouching. Don’t worry, you don’t actually dislocate your shoulders with this exercise! You’ll need a PVC pipe or broomstick that’s about five feet in length. Hold the PVC pipe in front of you with an overhand grip. If your shoulders are really inflexible, start off with a pretty wide grip — as wide as possible. As your flexibility increases, you can begin to narrow your grip. Slowly lift the PVC pipe in front of you, then over your head, until it hits you in the back/butt area. Then come back to the starting position. Again, do this SLOWLY. If you do it too fast, you’re likely to injure