THE NO B.S.

GUIDE TO
SHOULDER
HEALTH
Conor Harris
BS, CSCS, XPS, CES, CPT
 DISCLAIMER
This eBook is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to serve as a
means of injury diagnosis or treatment. If you are in pain, go see a
qualified physical therapist.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the eBook. This is designed for those who seek to
improve mobility, movement options, joint function, and strength
around the shoulder complex.

I have had the pleasure of working with the human body in a wide
range of populations. These include, but are certianly not limited to:

NBA, MLB, and NFL athletes

Collegiate D1 athletes
Powerlifter & Strongman competitors
Casual gym trainees
Geriatric clientele (above age 60)
Youth populations (age 18 and under)

What I have continually appreciated is that while we all have

individual differences, the human body is still the human body.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES VS COMMON
HUMAN PATTERNS
That last statement may come as a surprise, but it's true.

The human body is complex, but it isn't necessarily extremely

complicated. That is an important distinction to make.

We all have different demands on our lives. Lifestlyle habits, jobs,

sports, and genetics all dictate how we move and compensate.

I have found that most people need a lot of similar interventions to

improve movement. I am not claiming everyone is the same, but I am
saying that the human body tends to compensate in somewhat
predictable patterns and we can utilize our understanding of those
patterns to our advantage.

Assuming there aren't any signficant genetic abnormalities that

change the structure of how your body is built, we can leverage
certain positions to predictably improve mobility and movement
capabilities.

This book was designed with years of experience through trial and
error. I have chosen the exact protocol I would give to someone to
improve their movement as much as possible without me being there
by your side every step of the way.

This protocol will be clear, concise, and easy to implement without

any added B.S.

I hope you enjoy!

HOW TO USE THE EBOOK
Follow the eBook exactly as written. If you half-ass it and then come to me
saying it isn’t working, I’m not going to be very receptive.

This program will help you if you follow it diligently. Every single exercise is
chosen for a very specific reason. Each exercise is providing a specific input
into your body that another exercise in the program may not be.

There are a few different types of exercises in the book:

Daily Drills: These are to be done every day of your life. They should be
completed for around 2-3 sets per day of the perscribed amount of
repetitions and/or breath cycles. It takes consistent input every day into
your body to convince it to accept new positions and hold them over time.
The most optimal way to do these would be a few sets in the morning and a
few sets at night. I tell all of my clients:

“The ball is in your court for how quickly you will see results."

If you do less, you’ll see slower results. If you do more, you’ll probably see
faster results.

Strength Exercises: These are to be done three times per week for the
perscribed number of sets and repetitions within that set. They are designed
to help you "own" the range of motion you are gaining in the Daily Drills.
More is not necessarily better here, so please follow the guidelines as
described in the program.

As for how much load to use, I would recommend around a RPE (Rating of
Percieved Exertion) of no more than 8/10 on the strength exercises. That
means you have two good reps left in reserve after the last rep of the set.
 COMMON UPPER BODY
LIMITATONS
It's first important to realize that your shoulder blade (scapula) rests on
your back ribcage. It needs to glide smoothly in order for your humerus (arm
bone) to be able to effectively move and rotate.

Ribcage position = Scapular mobility = Shoulder mobility

The point is, it all starts with the ribcage first.

The primary motion that affects the ribcage on a daily basis is the ability to
move it through breathing and respiration. When we inhale, the diaphragm
contracts and helps expand the ribcage in every direction.
The largest cavity where our lungs can expand into is actually the back
portion called the "Posterior Mediastinum". This means that the normal
degree of kyphosis (rounding) of our upper backs is there for not just the
scapula to glide effectively on, but also for air to expand this part of the
ribcage.

If it does not due to compression of the back and/or front ribs, air will go
primarily forward into our belly. When this occurs, it is because the low
and/or upper back muscles are too tight and restricting this expansion.

The point is, a variety of compensations can happen, but those

compensations almost always involve a restriction in some area of the
ribcage. The good thing about this program is it's going to address
limitations at all areas of the ribcage which will help improve range of
motion regardless of your individual limitations.
 LOWER BODY
INFLUENCES
"It's all connected."

Is a common phrase to hear when talking about the human body. And for
good reason. This program is a comprehensive total-body approach
because anything less than that would be doing a disservice to your
shoulder health.

Let's take the most common circumstance I see: Anterior pelvic tilt. In
the image below, the pelvis is dumped excessively forward, causing the
low back to arch more and upper back to round excessively as well:
Notice below how despite different postural compensations, the body
ultimately just wants to find an even balance of weight distribution
down the mid-line of the body:

The influence from the pelvis driving the lower back into a larger arch
causes the upper back to round even more in order to keep an even
center of mass down the midline of the body.

This can feed into a forward head and rounded shoulders posture such
as what is commonly known as Upper Crossed Syndrome:
The point is, in order for the upper body to improve in posture and
movement, the lower body needs to be taken into consideration and
addressed as well.

Good news: We will be doing exactly that. Improvements in the upper

body will lead to improvements in the lower body (and vice-versa) if
done right.

Every exercise I have chosen for this program has an upper body and
lower body component to it.

RIBCAGE CHAMBERS
I like to think of the ribcage in sections of "chambers". This concept will
help you understand where exactly the assessments are measuring
restrictions, tight muscles, and overall limitations in specific regions of
the ribcage. There are three primary chambers:

Everyone will have varying limitations, but keep this in mind if you want
to know specifically where the limitations are. If you don't really care,
don't worry, you don't need this information to still succeed in the
program.

Now, let's move on to the assessment process.

Everyone will have varying limitations, but keep this in mind if you want
to know specifically where the limitations are. If you don't really care,
don't worry, you don't need this information to still succeed in the
program.

Now, let's move on to the assessment process.

ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL
Let’s now get a starting assessment for where you’re at right now. The goal
of these assessments are to provide you an objective process for knowing
you’re getting better. You should be able to test yourself and then re-test in
a week and see objective improvements. If you aren’t, then you’re either not
following it correctly or you need a more individualized approach.

The goal is not to pass all of the tests initially. If you are, I guarantee you’re
trying to force your way through them. We want get a baseline and see
improvements over time. Please do not try to force your way into a “good”
test result at first. Most people will have asymmetrical test results and
that's to be expected. There is an example of the desired range of motion at
the end of each video example of the assessments.

Be sure to film and keep these so you can reference them later to see
progress.

Shoulder Flexion: This is assessing how well your shoulder blade moves on
your ribcage through a full range of motion. This is the most
"comprehensive" assessment of full shoulder range of motion.
End Goal: 140-160 degrees

Shoulder Internal Rotation: This is assessing how much restriction is on the

front side of your ribcage, or anterior mediastinal cavity at T5-7.
End Goal: 60-70 degrees

Shoulder External Rotation: This is assessing how much restriction is on the

lower back side of your ribcage, in the region of T5-7.
End Goal: 90 degrees

Shoulder Adduction: This is assessing how much restriction is on both the

front and back upper portion of your ribcage, in the region of T2-4.
End Goal: 30 degrees

Trunk Rotation: The is assessing your ability to rotate your trunk

independently of your lower body. This is essential for proper trunk
movement in gait, running, and athletic performance.
End Goal: Shoulder to mid-line of body (90 degrees)
 HOW TO INTERPRET
ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Here is a YouTube video describing what each of the three assessments is
measuring and what it means for you as an individual.

If you want to have as percise measurements as possible, my

recommendation would be to download the app "Coaches Eye" (available
on the App Store) and buy the $5 add-on to be able to access the
Protractor tool. It is very easy to then measure the degrees and how
much you're improving.
 HOW TO BREATHE
Breathing is foundational to the success of this program. Please
understand how to effectively breathe before working on incorporating it
with the exercises.

If there is a breathing component to an exercise, this is how I want you to

execute it: Relaxed, full exhales through your mouth. The longer and more
relaxed, the better. Many people use their six-pack (front) abs more than their
obliques (side-abs), yet our obliques are what drive proper respiration.
Therefore, I want you to be able to feel your obliques and not your six-pack
when you exhale. Think "jelly-belly" as if your stomach was a jelly-filled
donut. The obliques should come on because you're exhaling, not because
you're bracing. If you don't feel them, you're not exhaling long enough (not to
be interpreted as hard enough). Period. A general guideline is 5 second
exhales and 5 second inhales.

Here is a video with an in-depth explanation on how to do this.

THE PROGRAM
Now, let's move on to the program. This eBook is broken up into six weeks,
each with progressions building on the previous weeks.

The idea is that the progressions will build upon the earlier weeks as you
gain access to new range of motion. I have strategically selected exercises
I've found to work best with people who are new to these types of exercises.

The consistent repetition of the exercises will help you progressively

integrate certain positions and muscles into harder poisitions over time.
Please do not skip weeks. If you have to miss a day, be sure to complete at
least 14 days of the given exercises before moving on to the next week.

I have found 14 days to be a very effective timeline for allowing the body to
adapt to the intended positions, range of motion, etc.
 INCORPORATING THE
EXERCISES INTO A TRAINING
SESSION
I chose each of these exercises for mobility, but they also are a fantastic
warm up for general weightroom work and would be appropriate for use in
athletic settings as well.

These exercises address common limitations I see across all populations,

and therefore will be beneficial for pretty much anyone.

If you do want to incorporate these into a warm-up protocol, this is what I

recommend:

2 sets of each of the daily drills

Complete the strength drills as your Accessory Block exercises for the
day - meaning they are the last exercises you do for the workout

Those sets can and do count towards your goal total of sets per day. So if
you did 2 sets of the weekly drills in your warm-up, you'd only need one or
two more that day.

Then move to something that will be more specific to the activities you are
going to do that day.

You can also add the strength exercises on off-days where you aren't
training because they shouldn't be too heavy, nor fatiguing enough to
compromise your recovery from full workouts.

You are free to use a band rather than cable machine in the strength
exercises, but I prefer a cable machine as it allows you to more accurately
know what load you are working with so you can progress in weight over
time. I would not add more than 5 lbs per side & per week on the strength
exercises.
 THE INFLUENCE OF GRAVITY
ON RIBCAGE EXPANSION
As I've mentioned, every exercise in this program is very strategically
chosen for a specific reason. Because air is a gas that follows the path of
least resistance, we can influence where air is going in our ribcage via
positioning our trunk in a certain orientation.

If we were facing down (prone), gravity would push down on us to expand

our front (anterior) ribcage:

If we were facing up (supine), gravity would help promote expansion of the

back (posterior) ribcage:
Sidelying positions bias compression laterally (side-to-side) via gravity, but
that means we get more front-to-back expansion as a whole from it.

THE INFLUENCE OF REACHING

ON RIBCAGE EXPANSION
The angle of your arm relative to your trunk dictates what degree of reach
you are at. Without going into too much anatomy and biomechanics (which
is beyond the scope of this eBook and the general person's interest in these
concepts), this is a general guideline for how different degrees of reaches
can bias certain areas of expansion in the ribcage:

Now, on to the program!

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 1-2
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Supine Cross-Connect 5 breaths per

Primarily Restores: side

Shoulder Flexion

Shoulder External Rotation

Trunk Rotation

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 1-2
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

90/90 Side Plank with Reach 5 breaths per

Primarily Restores: side

Shoulder External Rotaiton

Shoulder Internal Rotation

Trunk Rotation

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 3-4
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Rotational Lat Stretch 5 breaths per

Shoulder Internal Rotation side

Trunk Rotation

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 1-2
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Short-Seated Alternating Pulldown 10 per side

Alternating reaches improve

ribcage mobility & trunk

rotation

Higher reaching angle improves

lower ribcage expansion

(Below level of scapula)

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 1-2
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Supine-Inverted Alternating Triceps 10 per side

Extension

Strengthens long head of

triceps (scapular stabilizer &

retractor)

Inverted position biases air

expanding upper ribcage (T2-

4)

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 1-2
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Respiratory Preacher Curl 10 per side

Strengthens biceps for shoulder

stabilization on front side of

arm

Rotation & breathing improves

posterior ribcage expansion

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

Exercise credit: Alex Effer

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 3-4
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Standing Respiratory Banded Pull- 5 breaths

Apart

Primarily Restores:

Shoulder External Rotation

Shoulder Flexion

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEK 3-4
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Crab Position Breathing 5 breaths

Primarily Restores:

Shoulder Adduction

Shoulder Internal Rotation

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEK 3-4
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Split Stance Respiration Chop: 5 breaths per

Primarily Restores: side

Trunk Rotation

Shoulder Flexion

Shoulder Adduction

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 3-4
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Respiratory Triceps Kickback 10 per side

Strengthens long head of

triceps (scapular stabilizer &

retractor)

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 3-4
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Split Stance Alternating Cable Row 12 per side

- Humeral Extension Focused

Training the Lats to work to

extend the humerus (arm) and

work with proper scapular &

ribcage mechanics

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 3-4
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Half-Kneeling Alternating Landmine 10 per side

Press

Learning how to press with

proper gliding of scapula on

ribcage (Scapulo-Humeral

Rhythm)

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Supine Banded Shoulder Internal 10 per side with

Rotation a tempo of

Control of full shoulder internal 3:1:3 (three

rotation seconds down,

one second

pause at

bottom, three

seconds back

up)

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Respiratory Rolling Arm Bar with 8 rolls and

Screwdriver breath cycles

Primarily Restores: per side

Shoulder Internal Rotation

Shoulder External Rotation

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

Exercise credit: Bill Hartman

 DAILY DRILLS: WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 2 SETS IN THE MORNING AND 1-2 SETS AT NIGHT (3-4 TOTAL PER DAY)

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

D2 Flexion with Low Trap 5 breaths per

Primarily Restores: side

Shoulder External Rotation

Shoulder Adduction

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

Exercise credit: Postural Restoration Institute

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Supination Respiratory Curl 10 per side

Training ability to properly

externally rotate

forearm/elbow

Hinged positions bias air

expanding the front of the

chest due to gravity pushing

down & air following path of

least resistance

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

Exercise credit: Bill Hartman
 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

Cable Horizontal Row - Upper Back 10 per side

Focused

Training fully integrated

scapular protraction and

retraction capabilities

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 STRENGTH WORK:
WEEKS 5-6
COMPLETE 3 SETS OF THE PERSCRIBED NUMBER OF REPS 3 TIMES PER WEEK

EXERCISE & PURPOSE REPS

1-Arm Supported Row - Humeral 10 per side

Extension Focused

Training fully integrated

scapular protraction and

retraction capabilities

EXERCISE VIDEO LINK

 Ending Notes
I hope you've enjoyed the program! I am confident you will see some great
things happening.

You can reach me at:

@conor_harris_ on Instagram or Twitter
conor@conorharris.com