Shoulder Abduction

One of the Few Bodyweight Shoulder Rotational Exercises

Shoulder abduction is the motion of rotating your shoulder away from the center of your body.  Since the shoulder can rotate in a bunch of different directions, we have to be a little bit more specific.

For an example of the movement we are talking about here, put your arms out in front of you with the elbows together.  Rotate them out so your elbows are at your sides.  That is the motion.

This motion is done in the gym all the time on a cable machine or a fly machine with adjustable arms.  But you don't need one of those machines to work the same muscles. 

You just need the same movement plus some resistance.

In fact, this exercise works those shoulder muscles and your core.  Bonus.  Body weight exercises can do that.  Those machines can’t. 

Technique

• Start in the elbow plank position.
• Put your weight on your right elbow.
• Rotate up to a full side plank on your right elbow.
• Rotate back down, but do not rest your left elbow on the ground.
• Instead, rotate it towards your right arm a little bit more without letting it touch the ground.  That gives you a little more stretch on your shoulder muscle.
• Rotate back up to a side plank.
• Do a set of 10 and then switch sides

Keep In Mind...

• Just like with planks, keep your form.  Don’t let your hips or butt sag during the plank or drift back during the side plank.
• Get the full range of motion.  Get a nice shoulder stretch at the bottom and get the whole way up to a picture perfect side plank at the top.
  

Modifiers

Straight arm plank

To work the shoulders slightly differently, do the shoulder abduction exercise from a straight arm plank position.  At the bottom, reach your non-weight bearing arm across your body.

On arm behind your back

To make this movement more challenging, put your non-working arm behind your back.

So what's a good name for this exercise? 

It’s a really good exercise and definitely deserves a name.  I’m sure there is one out there.  Let me know if you’ve seen this exercise and if you’ve heard it called anything other than the plank-shoulder exercise or the plank-deltoid exercise.  So clinical and boring.