Wall Slide

beginner · mobility

Setup

Stand with your back on a wall, heels about two foot-lengths out and knees soft. Flatten your lower back against the wall by bracing your belly, then put both forearms on the wall with the elbows at chest height.

Execution

Keep your wrists, elbows and lower back all touching the wall; those are the three contacts to hold.
Exhale and slide both forearms up the wall to the point where one of those contacts is about to break.
Stop right there and hold for 1-2 seconds, because that is your current range.
Inhale and slide back down slowly, drawing the shoulder blades toward your back pockets.
Do 8-10 reps; the range creeps up week by week as long as you do not cheat by arching your back.

Breathing

Exhale as the arms slide up, inhale as they come down. Breathing out at the right moment drops the ribcage and frees the shoulders.

Quick cues

Keep all three wall contacts.
Low back stays on the wall.
Stop before a contact breaks.
Blades slide to your back pockets.
Short and clean beats long and sloppy.

Common faults

Fault: Arching the lower back off the wall to get the arms higher
Fix: Brace the belly, step the feet one foot further out and settle for a shorter range.
Fault: The wrists leaving the wall while the elbows stay on it
Fix: Shorten the range to where wrist and elbow both stay down, and live there for a few more weeks.
Fault: Shrugging the shoulders to the ears on the way up
Fix: Set the shoulders down before each rep and slide slower so the upper traps cannot take over.
Fault: Racing through it like a rep-counting exercise
Fix: Count two seconds up and two seconds down, because the goal here is range rather than reps.

Equipment

bodyweight, wall

Muscle groups

shoulders, back