First, don't be concerned - you won't actually dislocate your shoulders here. Shoulder dislocations are perfectly safe if you do them correctly, even if you had a dislocated shoulder before. Just don't rush it and be persistent. This exercise will be challenging initially, but you'll quickly improve if you're consistent at it.

You'll need a broomstick for shoulder dislocations although I recommend you get a mini-band as I'll explain below. Video of me doing Shoulder Dislocations:

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to do Shoulder Dislocations Correctly. NEVER use the barbell for shoulder dislocations - it's too heavy, you could injure yourself. Just grab the broomstick wide, reach over until you hit your back/hips, and then come back. Repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps as warm-up for your Squats/Bench/Press. Quick technique tips:

• Start Wide. If you can't do shoulder dislocations without your elbows bending or your hands leaving the stick then your grip is too narrow for your current flexibility level. Grip the stick wider, as wide as possible.
• Use a Resistance Band. Iron woody Bands makes shoulder dislocations a lot easier if you lack flexibility because the band stretches as you reach overhead. Get a mini-band if you struggle with the broomstick.
• Be Persistent. You will obviously not eliminate bad posture caused by years of computer games or too much sitting overnight. But your posture and flexibility will quickly improve if you're persistent. So be patient.

If you have very bad posture and lack shoulder flexibility, I recommend you also do the next exercises to improve your flexibility and fix your posture:

• Doorway pec stretches – stretch your pecs
• Thoracic Extension on roller – eliminates hunchback posture

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Static stretching involves no movement: you hold a stretch for time. Dynamic stretches improve your flexibility by moving around. Other types of stretching include ballistic stretching, PNF stretching, isometric stretching, ...

A lot of people warm-up using static stretches. I've been advocating dynamic stretches for some time, blogging about hip, ankle and thoracic mobility. Here are 5 reasons why you shouldn't do static stretches.

1. Static Stretches Impair Performance. Stay away from static stretches right before explosive movements like weight lifting, sprinting, jumping, etc. PubMed has plenty of research why, 2 examples:

• Decrease Vertical Jump Height. 10mins of static stretching decreases your vertical jump height for up to 15mins after the stretch.
• Increase Sprint Time. Static stretching inhibits the stretch reflex: the ability to store kinetic energy in your muscles during the eccentric.

Squatting down correctly stores energy in your hamstrings by stretching them. You can Squat more weight if you use this energy on the way up. But static stretches inhibit the stretch reflex, thereby lowering your Squat.

2. Static Stretches Don't Lower Risks of Injury. They increase the range of motion you can attain, but not your ability to stabilize in these new positions. Excessive flexibility without strength increases risks of injury.

First thing you'll tend to do if you get injured is stretching your injured limb. This can aggravate the problem rather than fix it. Example: excessive stretching of your hip flexors can irritate your joint capsule.

3. Static Stretches Don't Reduce Soreness. Some people stretch post exercise to reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If lifting caused DOMS, you'll be sore the next day, whatever stretching you do.

The best way to get rid of soreness is to train your muscles again. This speeds up recovery by flushing blood (nutrients) into your muscles. Do light lifting or dynamic stretches if you're sore. Contrast showers can also help.

4. Static Stretches Don't Warm-up Your Muscles. Warm muscles are harder to injure than cold ones. Static stretches don't raise your body temperature. You'll have to add 10 mins stationary cycle or light jogging.

This method, however, doesn't let you practice movements. So you lost 20 mins doing something that isn't optimal while 10 mins dynamic stretching would have increased flexibility, raised body temperature and grooved motor patterns.

5. Static Stretches Don't Put You in the Right State. To get best results from static stretches you must relax your whole body, release tension. That's why static stretches, including yoga, are great to de-stress.

But they aren't great to prepare yourself for heavy Deadlifts, sprinting, MMA or any other sports where you need to be fast, explosive and aggressive. You want to be fired up, not relaxed.

No More Static Stretches? The only thing static stretches are good for is fixing your posture. After a day sitting, the static hip flexor stretch is a great way to realign your pelvis while activating your glutes.

Most static stretches have a dynamic variation. Warm-up with soft tissue work, then 2-3 static stretches followed by 8-10 dynamic stretches. That's what I do as warm-up. Let me know how you warm-up in the comments.

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