Building Straight-Arm Scapular Strength Part 1: Awareness
I thought I was strong when I first started Gymnastics Strength Training (GST). I'd been lifting weights in the gym for years and increasing my squat, deadlift, chin-up, overhead press and bench numbers.
But it didn't prepare me for GST, especially Straight-Arm Scapular Strength (SASS) movements.
I couldn't hold a Tuck Planche.
I couldn't Skin The Cat or hold a Back or Front Lever.
I couldn't hold a Handstand.
And yet, social media is flooded with people doing sick gymnastics skills and making it look easy. I bet half of them can't overhead press their bodyweight or deadlift double bodyweight.
I was strong. But what was I missing?
I was missing a lot.
Balance, flexibility, coordination, specific skill practice and specific gymnastics strength weren't part of my training program.
Much of my weight training didn't carry over to GST.
Typical weight training doesn't include a lot of straight-arm movements. Chin-ups, Bench Press, Pulldowns, Rows, Biceps Curls, Triceps Extensions, and Overhead Press are Bent-Arm Scapular Strength (BASS) movements.
The only time we see a glimpse of SAS is at the top of a dip, push-up, bench press, overhead press, or at the bottom of a row or chin-up.
But how long do we spend in these straight-arm positions?
Sweet FA.
If you look around the gym, you'll often see people failing to go through a full range of motion and lock out their elbows in BASS movements.
People don't go to full elbow lockout in their dips and push-ups.
People don't go to full elbow lockout in chin-ups, rows and biceps curls.
I get it. I was the same.
Why? Because we can do more reps and lift more weight when we don't go to full elbow lockout. We let our ego get the better, and we do partial range repetitions because it makes us feel stronger.
Even if you're one of the few who utilise a full range of motion, you're not spending a lot of time in straight-arm positions, and that's a real shame.
Don't even get me started on CrossFit and kipping.
SASS done correctly will increase BASS, improve shoulder flexibility, and allow us to master sick gymnastics skills. Without SASS, we are leaving strength on the table, increasing the chance of injury and failing to unlock gymnastics skills.
In gymnastics, we see SASS movement everywhere. Handstands, Planche, L-Sits, German Hang, Back and Front levers, Iron Cross, Ring Routines and more.
If you lack SASS, your gymnastics movements will be very limited.
Why are SASS movements so hard?
As humans, we like to push and pull objects with bent-arm strength. The default motor pattern is to use our biceps and triceps.
Most of us have very little awareness of straight-arm strength because we have poor scapular motor control regarding protraction, retraction, elevation and depression.
Without awareness, how can we train it?
If we don't train it, how do we strengthen it?
Building Straight-Arm Scapular Awareness
If you've never trained SASS, jumping straight into Planche, Handstands, L-sits, Back levers, and Front levers isn't a good idea.
Chances are, you won't be able to perform the movement without bending your elbows, you'll experience shoulder or elbow pain, or you'll end up injured.
If you've not built an awareness of scapular motor control, you will default to a bent-arm movement pattern.
A drill we can use to train scapular motor control is quadrupedal backward and forward shoulder rotations.
Can you move your shoulders into the following positions while keeping the elbows locked?
Retraction
Protraction
Depression
Elevation
Elevation + Protraction
Elevation + Retraction
Depression + Protraction
Depression + Retraction
A lot of gymnastics skill seekers have limited scapular movement due to motor control, muscle weakness, and flexibility issues. We can move the scapular slightly into these positions but not to their full potential.
Building Straight-Arm Scapular Awareness Basics
Straight-arm scapular retraction starts with Scapular Rows, Reverse Planks, and Table Top Holds.
If you want to master movements like Skin The Cat, Back Levers and Front Levers, you'll need shoulder retraction strength.
Straight-arm scapular protraction starts with scapular push-ups.
You'll need shoulder protraction strength if you want to master movements like the Planche, Press Handstands, and Handstand Push-ups.
Straight-arm scapular elevation could start with the Wall Facing Handstand Shrugs, but shoulder flexibility might be an issue. If so, Lean Away Single-Arm Dumbbell Shrugs are a good option until the shoulder flexion range is improved.
You'll need shoulder elevation strength if you want to learn to handstand.
Straight-arm scapular depression starts with Assisted Scapular Pull-ups and then progresses to unassisted Scapular Pull-ups.
Do you want to learn the skin the cat?
Check out The Best Skin The Cat Program.
A lot of gymnastics skill seekers have weak shoulder depression, so we suggest starting with assisted reps. We find that assisted reps allow people to build more awareness of the full range of scapular depression motion.
Again, shoulder flexibility can be an issue here, and if so, you might prefer to use Dip Shrugs.
If you want to master movements like Chest-To-Bar Pull-ups, Muscle-ups, Font levers, Planche, Skin The Cat, and RTO Ring Dips, you'll need shoulder depression strength.
These are some of the GST foundation movements that offer huge benefits to building the strength required to master gymnastic skills. They might seem basic, and they are often overlooked, but they have a lot to offer.
What about shoulder flexibility?
You will have difficulty moving your scapulars if you've tight shoulder muscles or poor thoracic spine mobility.
For example, one of the functions of the pec muscles is shoulder depression. If you've got tight pecs, elevating your shoulders in a handstand isn't possible.
Tight biceps can cause the shoulder to round, moving the scapular into slight protraction, making it impossible to retract the scapular fully.
The scapular is designed to move freely over the thoracic spine. But kyphosis (a slightly flexed thoracic spine) and scoliosis (sideways curvature) limit scapular movement.
We often see this when someone can only lift their arms overhead by arching their lower back or bending their elbows. Hello, banana handstand.
Tight lats, tight pecs, tight biceps, weak upper- middle- and lower- traps, weak rear delts, tight serratus anterior, and weak shoulder external rotation are some of the issues that can affect shoulder flexibility, stability and strength.
People often ignore these issues in the gym because they can work around them by lifting lighter weights, doing partial reps, or using questionable techniques (like arching their lower back to lift a weight overhead).
The same is not true in GST. Yes, you can do a banana handstand, but you'll never be able to press to handstand, hold a tuck handstand, or accomplish a one-arm handstand without training SASS and flexibility.
GST isn't as forgiving as weights training.
You can fake it till you make it.
To master sick gymnastics skills, you must dedicate time to building SASS and flexibility.
In the coming post, I will share some tips for building SASS and shoulder flexibility.
