CrossFit Intrepid » Shoulder W Drill

Jun / 11

Shoulder W Drill
Categories: Workout of the Day

posted by: Sean

Mike Reinold is a knowledgeable physical therapist who I found via a post in Eric Cressey’s blog. Mike also runs a blog and I’ve been reading up on many of his posts. One in particular that caught my eye is on the Shoulder W Exercise where Mike goes into great detail on why the W drill performed with a resistance band is very beneficial to include in strength programs. I won’t bore you with all the details but it’s one of Mike’s favorites because, “The exercise combines shoulder external rotation with scapular retraction and posterior tilt, definitely a great combo and advantageous for many people as it recruits the posterior rotator cuff (infraspinatus and teres minor) and the lower trapezius. Plus, it’s performed bilaterally, which helps with posture and shoulder stability, and you can work both arms at the same time. So more bang for your buck.” If you’re interested please check out his post to read more about it.

I’d like to focus on the actual performance of the W drill as I witnessed a lot of confusion in yesterday’s warmup as I feel I didn’t do a great job explaining it to everyone. I’ll summarize Mike’s points of performance for the shoulder W exercise and show his video that brings it all together:

Hold the resistance band shoulder width apart with thumbs up with a nominal amount of tension in the band
Keep the elbows bent at 90 degrees. As you externally rotate your shoulders and pull the band apart do not try and force your forearms to stay parallel to the ground. This will ensure the proper finish position with the arms in a “W” and the full external rotation range of motion is reached

I’d encourage all of you to throw some shoulder W drills into your warmups as they’re sure to help prepare your shoulders for overhead movements, pressing movements, and just improve any imbalances that might exist in your external rotators or trapezius.