Shake The Shoulders Loose

Here again we have a crucial exercise with rather startling extra benefits. The extra benefit comes in loosening up the chest, but that benefit can not be measured unless you have a helper. I will tell you how to measure after I first present the exercise.

This exercise is a little more advanced. But it can be good to start this exercise early due to its strong effect on the chest.

Like the shrug the shoulders exercise, this exercise has some fairly specific requirements if it is to accomplish its objective.

First, the breathing. This exercise also uses a single rapid inhale and a gradual exhale. However, the inhale while rapid is not a gasp inhale. This is because the shoulder movements here are not as abrupt as in the shrug the shoulders exercise and therefore the inhale, while quick, is not a gasp. Still, the inhale is done during one shoulder movement while the exhale is done during a series of shoulder movements. It is not a major issue in this exercise, but it is better if you can make the inhale be to both the belly and the chest.

Here the arms are extended. That is they are pointed toward the ceiling, perpendicular to the body. Also the hands are turned so that the palms face each other.

Figure 110

The arms are alternately thrust upward. It is very important that this be a thrust not just a movement. With each thrust the previously thrust arm is brought back to the bed while the other arm is thrust upward.

Figure 111

A common error in this exercise is to make it a rocking motion of the two arms rather than a thrust of one arm while the other arm is allowed to return to the resting position. The idea is to thrust the one arm upward while the other arm (which was previously thrust upward) is allowed to relax back to the bed.

As with the shrug the shoulders exercise, the arm movement here is not just a simple movement upwards. Rather it is a thrust.

Since the hands are straight (not bent at the wrist at any time), you can think of it is though your fingers were trying to pierce something. Another way to think about it is: if your hand were held as a fist then you would be punching something.

Again, the movement is with the shoulder, not the arm. Thus the elbow is locked as is the wrist. The thrust comes from the shoulder, not from the arm. While you might think of it as thrusting the arm upward, the actual thrust comes only from the shoulder. There is a strong tendency in this exercise to make the thrust with the arm instead of the shoulder and to think it is being made from the shoulder. Figure 112 shows an exaggerated example of bending the arm at the elbow. You can learn the difference only by paying attention to the feel of your shoulder and gradually forming the habit of the shoulder thrust rather than an arm thrust.

Figure 112

Next, the breathing. The inhale is rapid but it is not a gasp. It is rapid only in the sense that the complete inhale is done in connection with the thrust of only one shoulder. I don't mean the below example to be taken as any rigid order of sequence; it is only a way to explain the exercise in words.

You right shoulder is thrust upward while you inhale (as always, belly then chest). Now, as you start the exhale with the normal easy 'ah' sound, the right shoulder is relaxed down while the left shoulder is thrust upward. Now with another easy 'ah' sound, the left shoulder is relaxed and the right shoulder is thrust upward. Now with another easy 'ah' sound, the right shoulder is relaxed while the left shoulder is thrust upward. This alternation is continued until the exhale is finished; at which point the next upward thrust is accompanied by a new inhale. In general (though not a rule) you can do five thrusts on one exhale.

Before we look at the common errors, I just want to repeat that the shoulder movements alternate. One side thrusts up while the other side is allowed to fall back. Note that I said "fall back." While it is a thrust with one side it is a simple 'let if fall back to the bed' with the other side.

Again it is easy in this exercise to make errors which will reduce the effectiveness of the exercise. The errors are: (1) breathing, (2) sound, (3) arm or hand movement, (4) rocking the body instead of thrusting the shoulders, (5) moving too quickly.

breathing

I wish to emphasize that the sound on the exhale is the same easy 'ah' sound as always. There is a strong tendency with each thrust to momentarily stop the exhale in order to make the sound. This is not correct. The exhale continues, without pause, during the complete set of thrust-then-relax movements of the shoulders. The sound is simply inserted into the exhale as it continues. Let's repeat that. The exhale is continuous during the set of alternate arm thrusts and each thrust has the 'ah' sound inserted into the continuous exhale.

sound

There is also a tendency to change the sound. The sound is not articulated (with the voice box closed and then opened), it is not a 'huh' or an 'uh' or an 'ugh' or an 'ho' or an 'oh' or even a 'ha.' It is the same easy 'ah' you use in all exercises.

arm or hand movement

Make sure that you lock your elbow and your wrist. If you bend the arm at the elbow or the hand at the wrist, you will likely thrust with the arm or the hand rather than with the shoulder. The error of bending the elbow on this exercise is so common that it is almost normal. But it is not correct. Lock the elbow and the wrist and don't let either of them bend or flex. See Figure 112 on page 260.

rocking the body

This exercise involves the shoulders, not the torso. Your torso should not rotate with the thrust. Certainly there is a ballistic rotation of the chest with the motion (this is, in fact, one of the purposes of the exercise), but this is very different from rotating the thorax to make the thrust. Try to keep the motion only to the shoulder. Figure 113 shows the error of rotating the torso rather than just thrusting with the shoulder.

Figure 113

speed

DO NOT SPEED UP THE THRUSTS. As with the shrug-the-shoulders exercise, a good rule of thumb is that after each thrust say the word 'pause' slowly to yourself so that the change from one shoulder to the next is not fast. The issue with this exercise is that it is a thrust, not a rapid alteration of shoulders. If you race the alternating thrusts the exercise will not accomplish its purpose. You cannot thrust if you do the alternation rapidly. With rapid movement you will only get a protrusion of the arm not a thrust from the shoulder.