A Move You Should Do MONDAY – Stick Overhead Press

This week’s move is a simple but powerful move in that it mobilizes an entire line of fascia, the lateral line. Here’s how to do the stick overhead press:

Stand with your feet hip width apart and toes pointed straight ahead.
Hold a stick in front of you with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart
Shift your weight to your right leg as you press the stick overhead with your right hand
Repeat shifting to the left side
You should feel a nice stretch along the side of your waist and torso
Perform 6-10 repetitions on each side

Why does this matter?

The lateral line includes some key muscles such as the peroneus longus and brevis, the quadratus lumborum, the iliotibial band, the gluteus medius and the sternocleidomastoid of your neck. This extensive fascial line is often tight in people who have had a previous lower extremity injury, walk with a wide base of support or have rotator cuff impingement or thoracic outlet syndrome.

If you fall asleep with your arm overhead and your fingers get numb, chances are there is some tightness in your lateral line. If you keep spraining the same ankle over and over, chances are your lateral line needs to be stretched out. If you get one-sided headaches, your lateral line needs to move.

The stick overhead press might be just what you need to keep pain out of your life. So grab a stick and take a few seconds to move in the frontal plane.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…