Using your car ride for warmup-wrists and shoulders

     I train at 530 am.  I don't want to show up to the gym early to warmup before class.  So I've learned to become resourceful on the drive over!

SHOULDERS

Most crossfitters shoulders take a beating.  One of the keys to getting them healthy and keeping them healthy is rotator cuff strengthening.  Here's the best pic I could find of what I sort of do:

I don't do 2 arms at once, but I do however perform banded external rotation for 1 arm at a time on the way to the gym.  Using the free arm to steer the car, the other arm can do external rotation while you sit on the opposite end of the band under the leg.  I do a set on the left, then a set on the right for upwards around 20-30 reps to get the muscles burning and alive.  Then I will do another set on each arm with the arm up in the frontal plane and it looks somewhat like this:

I still have the end of the band tucked under my opposing leg and I steer with my opposite arm.  I'll knock out a high rep burning set on each arm.  The key is to keep the elbow fixed in the air without moving it, all the while rotating through the shoulder joint.

WRISTS

     The other area I MUST warm up before I arrive are my wrists.  They both have ligament tears and have to be warm if I'm going to do barbell work or walk on my hands or burpees, etc....

     For the wrists I do the following:

1.  (open hand extensor stretch)

Seated in the drivers seat I keep an open hand and stretch one wrist at a time in between my legs on the seat with my fingers and wrist in the following position (this is the best pic I could come up with):

I'll do 30-60" each arm then switch to the following finger, wrist position:

2.  (hook grip flexor stretch)

Again, I'm doing 1 arm at a time in between my legs and posted on my seat.  The key to this hand position is to get your fingers into a hook grip with the thumbs wrapped by the fingers.  Another 30-60" per arm.

3. (hook grip wrist extensor stretch)   

I don't have a great pic but the last stretch is THE KEY STRETCH.  You keep the hook grip and turn the palm over so that it is on the seat in the same way as the 1st wrist stretch except now you are in a hookgrip.  This is the bread and butter the other 2 were leading up to.  Hold for 30-60" again.

    This sequence does absolute wonders for your front rack as well as gymnastic bar work, pushup/burpee position etc.....

Good luck!

(once I get to the gym, I do another 4 shoulder stretches from Dusty Hyland and then a little hip sequence and I'm ready to go!)