Shoulder slides...am I pressing too hard?

EagleSpirit started this discussion · 12/8/2010

I've been working on the shoulder slides to the floor from Veena's warm-up and the undulation in the beginner lessons. Is your shoulder supposed to be pressed hard into the pole, or just resting against it? Every time I do these moves, I notice that I'm really pressing hard into that shoulder and it's pretty uncomfortable. After doing the move a few times, it gets too painful and I have to stop and move onto other things. Is this normal? Or am I pressing too hard? If I am pressing too hard, how to do I stop it? I've tried loosening it up, but I always end up with my shoulder squished right into that pole. 😲

4 replies

Audball · 12/8/2010
I'd be interested to hear the answers to this too, as I find this move quite sore as well. For me its less painful to do a shoulder mount!
Veena · 12/8/2010
Body weight is resting on the pole.... Take the pressure off by remembering to use your core muscles AND the biceps, triceps and hands to control the movement. The hands should be gripping the pole strongly so use that leverage to take some of the weight off the shoulder. Its normal to be sore at first though, its also a great move to prep the area for shoulder mounts! 🎅
monica kay · 12/9/2010
are you keeping the pole close to the neck? bc if the pole is closer to the end of your shoulder, it will be painful.
EagleSpirit · 12/9/2010
Thanks for the replies! I'll try using my hands, arms, and core more next time to take the weight off my shoulders. I can believe that it is a great way to prepare for shoulder mounts! As it is, it's a good way to learn to trust myself and my growing strength...it's kind of scary to be lowering myself and not being able to see the ground! 😮