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Welcome to the Assessment Guide

Welcome to the Shoulder Flexibility Solution Assessment Guide.
This short little guide is designed for one thing: to get you started on the right foot using the
routine thats best for you based on your body and the issues you present with.
Theres a lot of info available to you, so were going to work together to figure out the most
important things to do NOW to get you started releasing your tight shoulders.
Heres what well go through in this guide:
1. Well walk through the assessments so you can see just how tight you really are
2. Youll record this on the scorecard from which you can monitor your progress over time
3. Well pick the best routine to start with and design a schedule to get it done
I left the design pretty basic (other than the logo) on purpose because I want you to print it out
as itll be easier to follow and then you can fill in the scorecard as we go.
Sound good?
Then lets get to work!
- Coach E

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How to Assess Your Shoulder Flexibility

There are 6 tests to go through:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Hand to Scapula
Hand Over Shoulder
Overhead Reach
Side Shoulder Static Posture + Pencil Test
Side Neck/Head Static Posture
Wall Press (Winged Scapula)

The first 3 tests are active flexibility tests, 3-5 are static postural tests and the Wall Press is a
test of scapular stabilizer function. Theyre in this order for a reason, which youll see after you
complete them all.
On the next page is the scorecard, so at the very least print this out or use the blank Word
document that Ive provided in the members area to write down your scores, because you can
use this to test yourself again in the future.
For each test, Ive designed a simple scoring system:

0 = Yikes! | 1 = Meh | 2 = Yeehaw!

(I thought this was more fun than Fail/OK/Pass. I need to get out more.)

When youre ready, take the tests, then youll see what to do based on your results.

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The SFS Scorecard

Test #1: Hand to Scapula

Test
Hand to Scapula

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

0 1 2

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

mm/dd/yy

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

0 1
0 1

Test #2: Hand Over Shoulder

Test
Hand Over Shoulder
Test #3: Overhead Reach

Test
Front
Side
TOTAL
Test #4: Side Shoulder Posture

Test
Side Shoulder Posture
Pencil Test
TOTAL:
Test #5: Side Head/Neck Posture

Test
Side Head/Neck Posture
Test #6: Wall Press

Test
Left
Right
TOTAL

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Test 1: Hand to Scapula

Now were getting into the tests of your active flexibility. Hand to scapula assesses the mobility
of your shoulder into internal rotation, the strength/activation of the external rotators and
biceps and the length/tension in the pec minor, internal rotators and triceps.

Reach up behind your back and if your hand reaches the spine of the scapula (top of the
shoulder blade, where the upper trap starts), give yourself a 2
If it looks like the second pic where you can reach the scapula, just not the top, give
yourself a 1
If you cant touch your scapula at all without compensating (see note), you get a 0

NOTE: a common compensation is for your shoulder to downwardly rotate and or internally rotate,
helping you get the hand higher up your back make sure you keep your shoulder retracted and
externally rotated during the test. You want it to look like the first pic, not the second.

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Test 2: Hand Over Shoulder

The Hand Over Shoulder test gives us an idea of length/tension of lats and triceps,
strength/activation of delts, control of the scapular stabilizers to properly upwardly rotate the
scapula and core activation. Phew, lots going on just to reach over your shoulder!

If it looks like the first pic where the hand reaches the spine of the scapula (shoulder
blade) and your elbow points straight up to the ceiling, give yourself a 2
If it looks like the second pic where your hand can touch the spine of the scapula, but
your elbow points forward (when looking from the side), give yourself a 1
If you cant touch the spine of the scapula at all, you get a 0

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Test 3: Overhead Reach

Reaching both arms up overhead and touching them above your head is similar to the Hand Over
Shoulder test in terms of the muscles used and assessed, however, because its a bilateral test (both at
the same time) it gives us additional insight into how your core functions and mobility of your thoracic
spine.

First, from the front, if it looks like the first pic where hands are together and both
elbows are straight and the biceps come close to your ears, give yourself a 1
Then, look from the side and if the armpit angel is 180 (no bend) give yourself a 1 If it
looks like the second pic below of me where you can see an angle, give yourself a 0
Add these two up to get your final score

Be aware of and avoid excessive lumbar extension:

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Test 4: Side Shoulder Static Posture + Pencil Test

Part 1 of this test is to take a picture of yourself from the side. Ideally, you can drop a plumb
line (a string with a small weight on the end taped to the ceiling) and stand in front if it, lining
up your ankle with it. The key is to stand naturally, snap the pic, then take a look.

If it looks like the first pic where the shoulder lines up pretty much with the center of
the ear and hip, give yourself a 1
If it looks like the second pic where its clear the center of the shoulder lines falls in front
of a line drawn between center of ear and hip, give yourself a 0

Part 2 of this test involves you standing and holding a couple of pencils (or pens, or anything
straight) in your hands.

If it looks like the first pic where the pencils point straight ahead, give yourself a 1
If it looks like the second pic where its clear the pencils point in towards each other,
give yourself a 0

The combined score tells you the extent of your static shoulder posture. Tally it up then lets
keep it moving!

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Test 5: Side Neck/Head Static Posture

Use the same pic you took in Test 1, but this time, look at the position of your head/neck.

If it looks like the first pic where the center of the ear lines up pretty much with the
center of your shoulder, give yourself a 2
If it looks like the second pic where the center of the ear falls in front of the center of
your shoulder, give yourself a 1
If it looks worse than the second pic, give yourself a big fat 0

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Test 6: Wall Press (Winged Scapula)

The Wall Press test shows you the function of your serratus anterior in keeping the scapula glued to your
ribcage. Poor function means poor scapular stability, leaving you open to instability injuries such as
impingements, tendonitis in the front of the shoulder and rotator cuff issues.
You either need a friend to assess you, take a pic of you, or setup a tripod and shoot a video and assess
yourself after.
Heres how to do the test:
1. Stand in front of a wall and place your hands on the wall at shoulder level with fingers up and
arms straight
2. Lean your weight into your hands
3. Assess the scapula according to the pics below:

If your scapula looks flush like the one on the left, give yourself a 2
If one scapula looks like it pops off the ribcage like the one on the right, give yourself a 1
If both scapula pop off the ribcage, give yourself a 0

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Your SFS Plan

Congratulations, youve completed the tests of your shoulder flexibility!
Now, its time to figure out what routine to do to fix you up.
Take a look at the SFS Scorecard
Create 3 groups based on the scores 2 (Yeehaw!), 1 (Meh) and 0 (Yikes!).
All of the 0s are a priority these need to be addressed first.
If you only have one 0, thats the routine you start with and you do it six days a week.
If you have two 0s, then you perform both of those routines on an alternating basis.
For example, if your Hand to Scapula and Overhead Reach are both a 0, because both of these
routines include a Day 1 and a Day 2, your schedule will look like this:
Mon = Hand to Scapula 1
Tues = Overhead Reach 1
Wed = Hand to Scapula 2
Thurs = Overhead Reach 2, etc take Sunday off (take 1 day off/week from SFS workouts)
Continue like this for 4 weeks then move to other routines if you have any others that are 0 or
1. If not, continue doing these routines until theyre 2s!
Re-test every 4 weeks to see where youre at but even if theres no change, move to other 0s
or 1s because the new routines will likely stimulate further change and some exercises that are
very needed show up in multiple routines.
What happens if I have one 0 and one (or more) 1s?
You can either alternate between the 0 and the next priority 1, or just do the 0 six days/week.
Those who crave more variety will want to alternate, while those who would prefer to focus
and perhaps get faster results will stick with the 0 routine by itself for four weeks do whatever
will help you STICK to the workouts and be consistent.
What happens if I have no 0s but multiple 1s?
Then just follow the same instructions as for multiple 0s above.
If you scored all 2s, what the heck are you doing here? :P
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LETS DO THIS!
So now you know where youre at and what to do
If you didnt score so well on the tests, instead of thinking, Oh man Im in such rough shape!
pat yourself on the back because youve taken the first step in the right direction to release
your tight shoulders and free yourself from nagging pains and opening up new levels of fitness
and performance.
The tests simply brought to light what is already present for you, so theres no reason to feel
bad about it just because youre now aware of your current state!
Starting off in a positive frame of mind (whether its this program, a relationship, new business
venture or a training camp) is important because the foundation we lay, whether its the
tangible foundation such as performing the SFS tests, or the intangible, energetic foundation
such as your mindset, is important and makes a difference.
So lets build a foundation of POSITIVITY and simply acknowledge any of those negative/selfdeprecating thoughts then say, Thanks, but I dont need you anymore. See ya! and actually
now give yourself 3 pats on the back and congratulate yourself for being a person who desires
growth and change and is open to learning, because these are the types of people who get
RESULTS.
And yes, you are one of these types of people, otherwise you wouldnt be here reading this
right now.
So the ball is in your court.
Its time to get to work.
I know this program works and will work for you, as long as you put it to work.
So lets do this!
Im truly looking forward to hearing about your results. :-)
Eric
P.S. If for whatever reason you find yourself stuck and not taking action, or starting but not
following through, its a sign that you need a little more support, so if this is the case, click here
to get my support and well work on this together.

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