Wall Slides

A shoulder mobility and control exercise standing against a wall, arms sliding up and down while maintaining contact with the wall throughout. It builds the kind of controlled overhead shoulder mobility that many other poses in this library, from Handstand to simple overhead reaches, quietly depend on.

“Keep every part of the arm in contact with the wall as it slides.”

Cue: “Back and arms flat on the wall, slide up and down without losing contact”

Maintaining full contact with the wall, forearms and the backs of the hands included, is what makes this exercise valuable. The moment contact breaks, usually the low back arching away from the wall or the forearms lifting off, the exercise has stopped training controlled overhead mobility and has become a looser, less useful stretch.

To build controlled overhead shoulder mobility, sliding the arms along a wall while maintaining full contact throughout the movement.

1. 1Stand with the back against a wall, feet a few inches away from it for comfortable spine contact.
2. 2Bring the arms up, elbows bent, backs of the hands and forearms against the wall, similar to a goalpost position.
3. 3Flatten the low back gently toward the wall, engaging the core slightly.
4. 4Slide the arms up the wall, maintaining contact with the forearms and hands as long as possible.
5. 5Slide back down with the same control, stopping before contact breaks.
6. 6Repeat for several slow, controlled repetitions.

Instead of searching for the “correct” position, notice:

• •Forearms and the backs of the hands stay in contact with the wall throughout the slide.
• •Low back stays gently flattened toward the wall, not arching away as the arms lift.
• •Movement stops at whatever height maintains full contact, not pushed further.

Exhale as the arms slide up, inhale as they slide back down, or whatever pairing feels natural, with the pace staying slow and controlled either way.

Look for the low back arching away from the wall or the forearms lifting off as the arms rise. Either is a sign the student has moved past their currently controlled range, and the useful correction is a smaller range, not more effort to push through.

Reflect after practising:

• •The height you can reach while maintaining full contact matters more than how high you can reach at all. A smaller range with full contact is doing more for you.
• •If your low back is arching away from the wall, that's the wall telling you where today's controlled range ends.

Rather than mistakes, you may notice:

• •Start with a smaller range, sliding only a few inches, and gradually increase as the ability to maintain full contact improves over multiple sessions.

• •A smaller range of motion, or practicing lying on the back on the floor instead of standing against a wall, for a similar contact-based principle with different support.

• ✓Lower the arms fully, stepping away from the wall and shaking out the shoulders.