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Home / Exercising / Fitness tests / Flexibility tests / Static flexibility tests / Shoulder
Shoulder Flexibility Test
Introduction
Performing a shoulder flexibility test is a great idea for anyone who is involved in a sport or activity where the range of motion of this body part is quite great.
Because the rotator cuff itself is often a prime area of the body for injury, increasing your ability to rotate this joint without any pain or tension is always a good idea.
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What is the point?
When you are really tight in this area, any time a large amount of strain is placed upon it, there is a higher chance of either a torn ligament, muscle pull or a bone dislocation.
A shoulder flexibility test should be performed by all individuals who are involved in swimming, racquet sports as well as those that involve throwing movements. Other exercise participants can do them as well as part of their overall fitness assessments.
The objective of the Shoulder Flexibility test is to evaluate the range of motion in this area in order to prevent painful stiffness and reduce the chance of injury.
What do you need?
How do you do the test? - To begin, if testing your left arm first, begin by extending your right arm directly over your head.
- Next bend at the elbow so that your hand begins to hang behind your head, the palm resting as close to the scapula as possible.
- Next reach around behind you so that your left arm is now trying to reach from below up to the right hand above.
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What results you'll get :
If you are able to touch your fingers together, this would indicate a score of 'good' in the range of motion rating. If the finger tips are not touching but are less than say two inches apart, this would be a 'fair' rating and if they are greater than two inches apart, you would be classified as 'poor' in terms of range of motion on this body part.
The only drawback to this test is that it can be slightly misleading if you happen to have very long arms. Obviously this will make getting the fingers closer to touching much easier and will skew the results in comparison with others.
As with all assessments, it would be a good idea to warm-up beforehand so that you are able to more effectively move through a larger range of motion thus improving your results.
What is being measured again?
These test measures the flexibility and range of motion of the shoulder joint.
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