What does it mean to have strong and healthy shoulders? Sounds like that should be an easy question to answer, but if you ask ten people what that means, don’t be surprised to get ten different responses!
Why would that be? Well part of the way we humans are wired is that unless we have a very specific thing already in mind, it’s hard to describe exactly what we want. But it’s much easier to see an example and think “oh yeah that’s the stuff right there!”
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In this video, Ryan is effortlessly supporting his weight on his his arms and shoulders at all kinds of different angles. It’s a wonderful example of strong and healthy shoulders.
Sounds great right? Here’s on overview of our method and the details on how you can get started right now.
From Beginner to Advanced: A Six Step Progression Model
In our programs Elements and Integral Strength, we take you through a series of movements that build on each other, allowing you to progress steadily throughout the course of the workouts. By training these movements, you can:
- Improve your posture
- Relieve and improve shoulder and back pain
- Gain more control over your entire body
- Get more flexible
Short on space? The following movements only require a small area to work from. All you need is the space of a yoga mat to begin.
We recommend you start with the A-Frame since it’s the easiest movement to begin with. If that’s too easy, go ahead and move on to the next movement in the series. Practice getting comfortable changing and adapting as needed, that’s one of the keys to consistent success!
Here are the 6 movements we’re covering:
1. The A-Frame helps you develop foundational shoulder stability
The A-Frame is where we recommend everyone start, as it helps you get comfortable supporting your bodyweight with your arms and shoulders.
It’s pretty simple, get on down on the ground and straighten your arms and legs. Make that A shape by lifting your hips up.
Play around with how far apart your feet and hands are, and shift your weight more forward to emphasize your upper body effort.
If this position already feels pretty good for you, move onto the Bear.
2. The Bear Walk challenges your balance and stability in motion
Don’t think you need to hold the A-Frame for 5 minutes or whatever, just practice it a bit and when you feel good, get moving in the Bear!
The Bear takes the A-Frame from a static position to one moving through space (also known as locomotion).
This way, you’re constantly shifting your weight from shoulder to shoulder, side to side, which requires balance, strength and body control. Playing around with movement is key to improving your practical upper body strength.
3. The Bent Arm A-Frame makes you work harder
This position requires some more strength because unlocking your elbows now requires your to use your arm and shoulder muscles more to keep you from falling on your face!
This “bent arm strength” sets you up for more challenging movements where you have to support your weight through various elbow and shoulder positions.
These movements are all part of our Elements program. 👇
Build Stronger Shoulders From The Ground Up
Elements gives you a foundation of strength and flexibility, by learning to support your weight with your hands, preparing you for even harder bodyweight skills.
What Comes Next? Adding to Your Strong Foundation
If all of those movements were easy for you, you’re probably ready for something more challenging. Give the following movements a try.
4. The Front Loaded Bent Arm A-Frame challenges your muscles even further
This movement builds on the Bent Arm A-Frame by having you lean even more forward.
As you’ll feel, the more you lean forward, the more weight is borne onto your hands and the more effort is required by your shoulders and arms. This effort builds strength and muscle!
5. Bent Arm Bear improves your balance and control
Just as the previous Bear Walk, this is the next practical progression from the static positioning.
Taking the Front Loaded Bent Arm A-Frame into motion instead of balancing in one spot gets you working your shoulders dynamically.
6. Inverted Presses fully prepare your shoulders and arms
Finally, once you’ve mastered the previous movement, you’ll want to practice pressing your bodyweight up and down, similar to as you would with a proper push-up.
This is also a natural progression toward being able to do a handstand, and eventually handstand push-ups.
These movements are all part of our Integral Strength program. 👇
Bodyweight Training for Strong Shoulders
Integral Strength is a skill-based program that gives you strong, healthy shoulders so you can move how you want, whenever you want.
How Do Your Shoulders Stack Up?
Now we’ve heard:
“Wow, I couldn’t do this in a million years.”
Let me tell you right now, that is simply not true. We have more than enough evidence to say this with confidence. Some people felt too stiff, others felt too old, and they got started anyway and achieved so much.
We’ve taken thousands of people through our system and they’ve told us they’ve surprised themselves with how far they’ve gone. Here’s a handful of examples from people in their own words.
Get Real World Gains in Shoulder Strength
You may never be advanced enough (or care to be) for handstand push-ups, but training these movements takes you a long way in developing healthy, stable, and robust shoulders. Many of us are sitting at our desks hunched over way too much during the day. And over time, it can make for stiff, tight, and sometimes painful shoulders.
Anyhow, while walking around on your hands might not be something you want to actually do, having the shoulder strength and stability to support your body in those positions is worth pursuing because of all the residual benefits.
Think about it. Your shoulders and upper back are so important for everyday things. Picking up your kids, playing sports with your friends, or lugging around some dirt for that garden you’ve started. So making them strong, and pain-free are no-brainers.
If you want healthy, flexible, and strong shoulders, you’ll have to actively work on them. But it’s not just about mindlessly doing workouts and hoping for the best.
To make progress, it requires a focused approach. Our programs are designed with your individual starting point in mind. No matter where you begin, we’ll help you gradually build up intensity and hone your technique over time. And by the time you’re finished with the program, you’ll look back with new abilities to do even more with your body.
Be sure to check out our programs and see which one is best for you.
Hi, I'm JC Deen 👋
A former fat boy turned personal trainer turned fitness writer and researcher. JC likes to teach people how to use their brains to reach levels of health and fitness they never thought possible.
Much of his time is spent reading, writing, and thinking about thinking.