What does your body tell you if you can't stretch your arms over your head

Has it ever happened to you that you wanted to reach out to get something from a high shelf and felt a strong tug on your shoulder?

Straightening your arms above your head is a task that depends on the range of motion of your shoulders . The flexibility of this area is critical for many people whose range of motion is quite limited, which explains the pain that can be felt when doing small things (in some cases even brushing the hair).

If your particular case is similar to this, it is recommended that you incorporate some strengthening and stretching exercises into your routine that will help a lot to improve mobility in the area and reduce muscle tension. However, before adding any of these exercises to your routine, we recommend that you identify what your specific problem is.

Causes why you can't stretch your arms up

1. You have a weak core

If your core lacks enough strength, it is common for your lower back to overextend and your ribs to widen. This, along with limited mobility in the thoracic spine (or upper back), makes your body depend on the lumbar spine (lower back) for support.

As a solution to this problem, you can develop your core strength. An example of a simple exercise for this case would be the plates.

1.1 High plate

1. Kneel on the floor with your hands and knees, generating four points of support.
2. Keep your arms extended and your hands parallel to your shoulders.
3. Extend your legs, keeping them straight.
4. Avoid at all costs lowering or raising your hips too much.
5. Keep your body (from head to toe) in a straight line.
6. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.

2. Your shoulders are stiff

When stretching your arms you can't fully align your elbows, or does it even hurt a little? This is also associated with limitations in the range of motion of the shoulder . As a result, you can stretch your arms over your head, but your elbows are still slightly bent.

Stretches such as the "needle thread" can help to ease this problem little by little, as it loosens tight muscles.

2.1 Stretch "Threading the needle"

1. Kneel on the floor with your hands and knees (again on four points of support).
2. Extend your arms in front of you, then pass your right arm under your left arm, extending your left side.
3. Hold and repeat on the other side.

3. Your shoulder muscles are stiff

Your problem may be that your shoulder muscles feel fatigued or tight performing even the simplest tasks. If this is you, you are experiencing a shoulder “shock” which occurs at the end of your flexion range.

This happens due to lack of space for the tendons and rotator cuff to glide smoothly. To correct this problem, you will need to give a little more importance to stretching to lengthen and stretch the tightest muscles.

An alternative is to use the foam roller as your ally: massage your pectorals and your lats with it. With this task you will increase the flow of blood in the area and over time you will notice how the pain decreases.

conclusion

Cases of fatigue or limitations in the shoulders are very common , much more in people who constantly train that part of the body but do not take much importance to stretching.

Correcting these limitations is a task that will only take a few minutes of your time and a little dedication. In the end, it's going to help you feel a lot lighter each day.

References

• Galic, B. Can't straighten your arms over your head? here's what your body is trying to tell you. For Livestrong [Revised February 2020].