My favourite way to pose is using the "ActivePose Tool" (ALT+SHIFT+P) circled in red in the image below. One you activate it, click on the chest and shoulder and tap SPACE for each one and you will see a red pushpin show up indicating that it shouldn't move (or resist movement). You then left click on something like the hand or arm (see image below), left click it and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse (SLOWLY) to move the arm and it should move without the pinned parts moving. Which way it moves depends ENTIRELY on your view! So view from the side like below when you want to bend it forward and back, view from the front if you want to move side to side. OR use the ActivePose tool that appears...
It takes some practise, and you don't want to move TOO fast, but once you get used to using this took, it is REALLY nice! I use it in combination with the dials and I can now pose characters in any way fairly quickly. Note that the dials do NOT respect the pinned parts and they will still move if you turn a dial which effects them. The pinned parts are only effected when using ActivePose and dragging your mouse to move.