Shoulder Exercises: Lateral Arm Lifts With Weights

Video Transcript

"Lateral arm lifts with weights. Now you are looking at these weights and going oh, my God Mickey Mouse weights, don't think of this as too much weight. Actually these are two pounds and they are quite challenging. You may want to start with one pound or even half a pound or something light because the shoulders don't need much especially when you have a challenged postural issue you don't need to go too heavy. I would rather see you with lighter weight or no weight and then work your way up into very light weight. Now when you position yourself on the ball you may want to be with your feet against the wall and just basically either lean forward to get on the position of the ball. Think of your head as having a shining light like a flashlight so you keep your neck from bending like this and you keep your posture nice or you can go into a full leg extension if you are more used to the ball and you need more of a challenge. When you go to this side I am going to keep my thumbs up this way and I may want to even do that to remind myself that my thumbs are up gripping into the weights and now I'm going to exhale and lift, inhale, release. I want to make sure that my arms are straight out to the side so I can see them with the corner of my eye. Not here in front, not here in back and please make sure you keep those weights light. There is no need to go into heavy weights. If you are going on your knees it works the same way, right here by your side and you are just lifting. The idea here is that we are strengthening the middle back and the shoulder blades so you want to squeeze the shoulder blades as you go and you'll notice when I am talking to you I am not looking at you because I then lose my neck alignment so keep shining that light through the top of the head. Whichever position you decide to do, find what's best for you. Your body will tell you what is best for you and have a happy posture."