Broomstick exercises anyone do them???

[grace_ou]

How to cure shoulder problems by Dante aka Doggcrapp

"With a large towel or broomstick I want you to hold it with straight arms for the entire time of what i describe in the following movement--a large "rolled up like a rope" beach towel works good but honestly a longer broomstick (without the bristles) works best in my opinion. Start out with it with a really wide grip (with straight arms) in front of you (on your quads) and with straight arms bring it up and overhead and then down and back to the middle of your back--STRAIGHT ARMS ALL THE WAY--this is going to be very difficult and hard the first couple times out and then will be "old hat" with time----and its going to be painful in a stretching pump kind of way---i want 50 reps each time you do this--one repetition is from in front of your face (all with straight arms) to up overhead and back, and then down all the way to the middle of your back and then back up overhead to in front of your face again (again all with straight arms)--the important part of the movement is the area overhead that is really tight--do all of this carefully/slowly---dont just whip it over and back---if your hand is slipping off the broomstick even with the widest grip, or you cant bring your arms over straight and the start bending on you, you have some serious shoulder inflexibility and need to work this hard and get up to speed (or you could just need a longer broomstick too)--again do all of these revolutions controlled and carefully--push into the stretch as you go along toward the 50 revolutions, your chest will be pushing outward and your shoulders rolling back--your shoulders are going to blow up with so much blood its going to be incredibly painfull pumpwise--Do this once a day at nite as many times a week as you can---sometimes I have people do it every single day---but every time you do it try to move your grip inward (thats the key)----its going to be very hard to do but try your best to move your grip inward for the next 2-4 weeks and your range of motion with shoulders will increase dramatically and any impingement and the majority of other problems should be gone in 2 weeks--also try to move your grip in as you are doing the 50 revolutions--start off with a stretching but relatively easy 10 to warm up some, then try to move your grip in even by a centimeter if you can for the next 20 revolutions and then at 30 try to move the grip in another centimeter--really try to push what you can do stretchwise once your warmed up here--trust me this sounds easy but your going to be muttering "**** you dante" after you get to your 25th revolution--Ive cured too many shoulder problems with this simple movement now its pretty ridiculous, and this and a menthol rub applied liberally daily and before sleep has cured alot of shoulder/bicepital tendonitis in trainees."

I know men that swear their lives by this working for shoulder pain... I just started them so I cann't say if it works yet.. Anyone else use them??

[jf1]

i attribute this simple exercise with rejuvenating my upper body workouts.
prior to doing these, my shoulders were so painful that i could not do any pushing exercises at all.

i now use them as a warmup before bench and in between sets of bench, military and pullups...and i can workout pain free!

[JonnyStead]

Personally I'm going to need pictures or a diagram - I cant tell from that description what they want us to do!

[hornedn]

I had a friend in high school who would use just a broomstick, but it was more for a warmup not for pain. When you need to build up muscle in an injured area, any little bit of resistence helps.

[Arlecchino]

I am not quite a flexible as he is.

[jf1]

I am not quite a flexible as he is.

anybody should be able to do these, regardless of flexibility.
it all depends on the width of your grip; if you are less flexible, take a much wider grip, as you get better, narrow it up...

[TheLBM]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=747310

I love these, and do them almost every day.

[Arlecchino]

anybody should be able to do these, regardless of flexibility.
it all depends on the width of your grip; if you are less flexible, take a much wider grip, as you get better, narrow it up...

I have screws and a pin limiting the flexibility of my left shoulder. I agree that non-gimps who were not put back together by idiots should be able to do them.

[jf1]

I have screws and a pin limiting the flexibility of my left shoulder. I agree that non-gimps who were not put back together by idiots should be able to do them.

are you undergoing rehab or do you see a physical therapist?
i would be curious to know if they incorporated this into a program?

i was going to add that for those who are really flexibly impaired, using a towel, instead of a broomstick, is the way to go...

[Arlecchino]

are you undergoing rehab or do you see a physical therapist?
i would be curious to know if they incorporated this into a program?

i was going to add that for those who are really flexibly impaired, using a towel, instead of a broomstick, is the way to go...

They did not many years ago. I did. I have always done dislocates as part of my flexibility routine. I started out as an OL'er. The actual degree of rotation of the joint itself is compromised. No real way around that one.

[DieselGrinch]

I just started to do these. It's surprising how hard they get. I'm hoping in a few weeks to see if my right shoulder improves. Also to see over all my flexibility increase.


DG

[grace_ou]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=747310

I love these, and do them almost every day.

LOL did you notice the orginal post by DC was made in Jan 2005! The fact that his post is still being passed around more then 3 years later and referenced must say something!!

[grace_ou]

I just started to do these. It's surprising how hard they get. I'm hoping in a few weeks to see if my right shoulder improves. Also to see over all my flexibility increase.


DG

I just started adding them yesterday so I hope they help!

[ExCompetitor]

Seems to me Dorian Yates was doing these back in the early `90`s and probably even before that.

[B Campbell]

I've done warm up exercises for my shoulders for years now. But recently I've added a new one. I do the same exercise as the "BroomStick" but I use an elastic therapy band instead. The more I get warmed up the better my flexibility. It has the wonderful ability to stretch as I need it...and I do! lol

[Lardog]

I do these almost everyday also. Before, as a warmup, and again at the end of my workout just to get a good stretch.

I really like 'em.

[Jules Verne]

I thought you were supposed to do them slowly rather than whipping your arms through the ROM.

[grace_ou]

I thought you were supposed to do them slowly rather than whipping your arms through the ROM.

That's my understanding of how your suppose to do them to.

[lardas]

Wow that looks painful though. Seems as if it would damage the rotator more though.

[B Campbell]

I do mine slowly, but then again I'm not sure I could do them fast anyway! I'm just trying to get a warmup and an improved ROM. I don't know why you'd do them fast unless you wanted to tear up your shoulders (or are young enough for it not to bother you).

[BuckSpin]

FWIW, I have been going thru some shoulder issues & started doing a 15-20 minute stretching session prior to training. I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to do broomstick pullovers/etc to substitute a resistance band tied off/together into a loop.

It allows for the natural range of motion within the scapular plane, you can control the amount of resistance, you can move your arms in/out, it actually provides resistance, frees your hands/wrists (I thread it between thumb & pinky like doing Cat's Cradle) and (to me most important) allows you to rotate your shoulder joint in any direction while doing the pullover at any point in the pullover, which is impossible with a rigid broomstick.

You can also do a variety of other shouder movements with one. Highly recommended as either PT or just to stretch.

[B Campbell]

FWIW, I have been going thru some shoulder issues & started doing a 15-20 minute stretching session prior to training. I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to do broomstick pullovers/etc to substitute a resistance band tied off/together into a loop.

It allows for the natural range of motion within the scapular plane, you can control the amount of resistance, you can move your arms in/out, it actually provides resistance, frees your hands/wrists (I thread it between thumb & pinky like doing Cat's Cradle) and (to me most important) allows you to rotate your shoulder joint in any direction while doing the pullover at any point in the pullover, which is impossible with a rigid broomstick.

You can also do a variety of other shouder movements with one. Highly recommended as either PT or just to stretch.

I start out with the resistance band at full length, and by the time I'm done warming up I've doubled the band and can easily get through the motions. It works great for me!

[Jules Verne]

Wow that looks painful though. Seems as if it would damage the rotator more though.

It really stretches tendons and muscles and increases ROM which is actually very important after any injury. But if it hurts, then definitely do not do them. Start with your hands far apart and work them in slowly - both within a session and from one session to another.

The main benefit is extending ROM, but I also think it is really good at increasing blood flow to the area, especially if you manage 50 slow reps at once. Of course if you have a specific injury, you may need other exercises to get proper/full and balanced ROM in your rotator cuffs. A decent physiotherapist will be able to check ROM and suggest exercises that are appropriate to a specific issue.

On the other hand I've never noticed them helping significantly with my shoulder issues. I've had surgery for impingement in both shoulders and still have some residual tendon issues.

[BePrecise]

Did them when some Smith Machine benching (I knew better but threw them in for a while) had me to where it was painful to lift my left arm in the air. Gotta admit, it lived up to the hype and my shoulder got better.

Thanks for reminding me as I have poor shoulder flexibility and need to start doing them again for at least pre-hab purposes.

[Droad87]

Bump, I realize this is an old thread but I was wondering, I have started to have a bit of shoulder pain sometimes and started doing these in 3 sets of 20 the past 2 days, my shoulders feel much better already but I was wondering if my I should feel a pop when I come around? Feels like something moving in the front of my shoulder, no pain, is this normal?

Thanks

[grace_ou]

Bump, I realize this is an old thread but I was wondering, I have started to have a bit of shoulder pain sometimes and started doing these in 3 sets of 20 the past 2 days, my shoulders feel much better already but I was wondering if my I should feel a pop when I come around? Feels like something moving in the front of my shoulder, no pain, is this normal?

Thanks

I would say no, nothing should pop..

Try this for a while, then return to the broomstick exercises if you still need them or want to do them.. I love them but I don't think anything should pop.




I still do the broomstick exercises but I use bands with them now.

[Droad87]

I figured that, I will try to start doing some exercises as mentioned in the video.

Thanks for the help

[grace_ou]

I figured that, I will try to start doing some exercises as mentioned in the video.

Thanks for the help

The diesel crew rehab is really good selection of rehab & prehab exercises. Run it for a while then like said come back to the broomsticks.

[beachguy498]

I had finished up a heavy shoulder pre-hab in mid-January. I still do the exercises, including broomsticks and towel work. My shoulder did pop at first with the broomsticks, I was told that it would lessen as space opened up within the joint and it did.

BG

[MrNismo]

These shoulder dislocations are working wonders for me. I too still get the occasional pop but NO PAIN which I think is key. If it popped and hurt I wouldn't do it but a little popping is ok according to my PT.

That said, these certainly helped with scapular stability but did not do anything for my shoulder pain/weakness which obviously had a lot more going on that required more than just this move.

I started PT about 2 months ago as well as the diesel crew shoulder rehab stuff about 2 weeks ago and after more than a year of pain/weakness my upper back and shoulders are drastically improving finally!