Building Shoulder Mobility And Stability With Broomstick Workouts

We can also use broomsticks to build mobility specifically in the shoulder girdle, using dislocates.

Dislocates

Start with a wide grip. The wider your grip,the less the mobility demands on your shoulders. Grip the broomstick in a double overhand grip,and lower it to your hips, then lift it overhead. It's important to make sure that your arms are in the right position: just as in your grip your thumbs face each other, so your inner elbow would face each other. Most people habitually rotate either internally or externally to some extent, typically internally, so you might find you have to keep adjusting your arm position to start out with. Raise your shoulders slightly and keep your arms straight throughout the movement. Once the broomstick is overhead, try to move it further back. If you can't, try a wider grip, but some people struggle with shoulder mobility in this range, so don't worry too much if you do — just gradually move slightly further back as and when you can. Move in a  slow, controlled manner and aim to do three or four minutes of this exercise continuously. It's surprising how much of a difference it can make to your mobility in just a few minutes!

Klokov Presses

Start with the broomstick behind your head, holding it at or near the ends in a snatch grip. Slowly press it out overhead and return to the original position. The higher you start the easier it is, but try to start with the broomstick actually touching your shoulders. Be careful to make sure that your arms are externally rotated and your scapulae are tracking correctly through the movement. If you're having trouble, try doing them with your back against a wall. Put your head, hips and as much of the rest of your spine as you can against the wall, press your knuckles against the wall and don't let your elbows touch it, then press slowly and feel for instability. It could be that extending your thoracic spine solves  the problem. If you can do this with no instability you can try it with an empty bar and if that works, you can add full Klokov presses to your training.

Broomstick Cardio

So far you'll have noticed that we've been using a broomstick to stand in for a barbell, working on technical movements or mobility drills based on basic barbell lifts or variations. Well, you can use one for fast, explosive barbell complexes too! If you're comfortable with the Olympic lifts, try doing timed sets of broomstick clean and jerks — a favorite old school warm-up for the real thing, and an intense cardio session in its own right. If you're not, try thrusters or overhead split lunges for time, trig to pack in as many neat reps as possible. It sounds silly, but most people stop laughing about two minutes in. Five minutes of broomstick snatches is enough to level most people. Give it a try!

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