Loading the Right Side Trunk Rotation Cues to Improve Movement (ON BOTH SIDES)

One of the most common complaints of clients and patients is a right side that doesn't move as well as the left. They often describe it as feeling stiff and locked up, especially through the right hip, shoulder, and lumbar spine regions.

One of the usual culprits is overcompression of the right side during gymrelated activities.

This can manifest as discomfort or limited motion during the compressive portions of movements. Some examples are the bottom of a split squat or squat or raising the arm past shoulder height.

To improve this limitation in movement, it is often useful to look at asymmetrical movement patterns and positional tendencies within the body.

Typically, humans have an easier time creating compression on the right side of the body and tend to be positioned into an expansive orientation on the left side.

This often means that part of the rehab or training process is to enhance the ability to compress the left side of the body.

This approach can ultimately free up motion as the brain allows the right side to let go (in certain ways) and the left to stabilize (in certain ways).

However, many times this approach doesn't completely work out because of a lack of loading the right side.

The rationale here is often that the left side strategy must be relatively stable before you will be able to let go of tension on the right. And while this can be true in many cases, it is also equally as usual that the individual needs to learn to manage expansion and compression during activities that load the right side to allow the right to let go.

For example, in a right foot forward split squat, if the right side is compressed to start, it can max out compression early in the motion (prior to hitting the bottom position) and you will see a number of ROM substitutions (hip hike, knee adduction/abduction). If you can learn to expand the right side and reduce the rate of compression during movement, often tension is reduced and movement fluidity is improved.

To address this issue of an overly compressed right side, we can use trunk rotation via a left arm reach and abdominal oblique activation. By reaching to the right from the left, we can rotate the trunk to the right, opening the space between the right pelvis and rib cage. This often reduces tension in the right lat and QL region and improves both hip and shoulder range of motion.

Often times, this needs to be progressed from the ground up, which is exactly what we cover in this video!

Enjoy!

If you need help improving movement on the left and right sides, head to https://chaplinperformance.com and book a movement assessment.

00:00 Intro
00:53 What's so special about the right?
01:56 Common Exam Findings
02:27 Common Positional Presentations
04:09 Point of Confusion
05:04 Positional Cues
07:09 Activity 1 Sidelying Propulsive Reach
10:14 Activity 2 Cable Trunk Rotation
11:24 Activity 3 Split Squat with Left Arm Reach
12:21 Recap

If you want to improve movement and don't know where to get started, I recommend you take my BreathWork Breakthrough 7Day Challenge.

This email minicourse teaches you the fundamentals of breathwork. This will pave the way for regulating your nervous system and improving dynamics of the rib cage necessary for improving movement.

Get it here https://www.chaplinperformance.com/st...

Links to equipment I use:

Squat Wedges: https://tinyurl.com/3v8zxhah
Camera: https://amzn.to/3wOn4rM