My arms are rotated inwards so my palms are almost on the front of my thighs when I think the correct position is on the side.
Does anyone know any exercises that can help correct this?
Front delt stretches and pec stretches with lots of rows and chins.
Shoulders
This one is tough to describe–put barbell in squat rack shoulder
height–face away from it and reach back and grab it palms up (hands on
bottom of bar)—walk yourself outward until you are on your heels and the
stretch gets painful–then roll your shoulders downward and hold for 60
seconds
Chest
Grab a pair of moderately heavy dumbbells. Lie on bench and act as if you’re going to press them. Lower them with palms facing each other as far as possible. If that doesn’t quite hit it, move dumbbells out away from you to the sides until you feel the stretch.
Rotator Cuff work too. Read Eric Cressey’s article on it.
Lift weights.
I think there is a new fad going around that is focusing too much on posture and many minor differences between people. The fear is that you will develop major imbalances and be in pain for the rest of your life. However, it doesn’t seem to take into account that most people will differ in body mechanics regardless.
Sure, I think it’s a great idea to do things to help prevent injury and major muscle/postural imbalances.
However, I think most of that can be prevented through progressive weight lifting. You don’t need to spend much time on a bunch of small exercises that are supposed to put your hips, knees, shoulders, etc. in order when you can squat, deadlift, bench, row, chin, overhead press, dip, curl, etc.
Most weight lifting exercises will give you proper posture. Unless you are injured due to a severe postural problem, I would continue to focus on weight training with many of the basic exercises and making sure your weight training plan is balanced (equal amounts of horizontal pushing/pulling, vertical pushing/pulling and quad/hip dominant exercises).
Do you weight train? Do you work all the muscles in the body? Do you have decent levels of strength?
If not, you should address those issues before worrying that your arms are rotated slightly inward.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Lift weights.
I think there is a new fad going around that is focusing too much on posture and many minor differences between people. The fear is that you will develop major imbalances and be in pain for the rest of your life. However, it doesn’t seem to take into account that most people will differ in body mechanics regardless.
Sure, I think it’s a great idea to do things to help prevent injury and major muscle/postural imbalances.
However, I think most of that can be prevented through progressive weight lifting. You don’t need to spend much time on a bunch of small exercises that are supposed to put your hips, knees, shoulders, etc. in order when you can squat, deadlift, bench, row, chin, overhead press, dip, curl, etc.
Most weight lifting exercises will give you proper posture. Unless you are injured due to a severe postural problem, I would continue to focus on weight training with many of the basic exercises and making sure your weight training plan is balanced (equal amounts of horizontal pushing/pulling, vertical pushing/pulling and quad/hip dominant exercises).
Do you weight train? Do you work all the muscles in the body? Do you have decent levels of strength?
If not, you should address those issues before worrying that your arms are rotated slightly inward.[/quote]
Agreed.
Personally I feel that this new trend in detecting and correcting postural defects and muscle imbalances stems primarily from the new generation of online personal trainers who are attempting to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
From my perspective, I feel that many of these individuals can solve their perceived issues simply by getting in basic shape and conscientiously working on keeping a proper posture throughout the day.
And as was previously mentioned, “normal” is a range. In other words, if your posture isn’t as “perfect” as the guy on the cover of the postural correction DVD promoted by your favorite e-personal trainer - don’t automatically assume that you’re a cripple with special needs.
That being said, if you really do have issues, then seek out a medical professional and quit trying to self diagnose and correct your issues with a handful of online articles and DVDs.
Again, this is just my opinion.
I’m guessing you do very little work for your external rotators. Make sure your horizontal pull (row) volume is roughly the same as your horizontal push (bench press) volume. Do some external rotation and/or rear delt work at the end of your workout. Stretch your internal rotators (chest, front delts, lats).
You should stretch your internal rotators. These are the Pecs, Lats, Anterior Delts, Teres Major and Subscap.
Doorway pec stretch and 2 lat stretches should do the trick. I go for the lean away from the door way stretch and overhead lat stretch.
Maybe foam roll on lats prior to stretching.
Deadlifts with a switch grip(focusing ion pulling shoulders back) should help. Be sure to alternate grips.
Prone cobras at the end of your workout also.