How to PROTECT your shoulders longterm!

Welcome to this week’s newsletter!

Today we’re diving into one of the more common injury sites.

The shoulder.

The shoulder joint (aka glenohumeral joint) is the most mobile joint in the body, meaning it also (unfortunately) has LESS stability.

This is what makes it prone to injuries, especially frustrating if you play sports and like to exercise frequently!

While everyone’s shoulder injuries are different and may require individual approaches…

There are some general steps you can take to help stabilise, strengthen and safeguard shoulder health longterm.

Here’s a closer look at each one…

Respect your range of motion!

Time again I see individuals force their shoulders into positions to perform certain exercises.

For example, direct overhead exercises like chin ups and shoulder presses when they have poor overhead mobility.

Once you exceed your active range of motion at a joint, there’s less muscle involvement and more reliance on passive tissues such as ligaments and tendons.

So we are clear, active range of motion at a joint relates to how far you can actively move into a position.

So if you cannot actively lift your own arm overhead without compensating (arching your low back and flaring your ribcage for example)….

You might be risking injury loading your shoulders in these positions too.

The good news is you can easily tweak exercises to match your body.

Here are some examples:

• Switching from direct overhead press to 60 or 75 degree incline press instead.

• Switching from chin ups to lat pull downs with a slight lean back.

• Modifying range of movement in chest press exercises as not to exceed active range of motion.

See the video below on the DB chest press to help illustrate how to set yourself up safely with this exercise!

Strengthen the rotator cuff…

You may likely already have heard of this group of 4 muscles, and aware it plays a role in shoulder stability.

Though they are called the shoulder rotators…

They play a key role in keeping the shoulder joint “centred” while we move, train and exercise.

Due to the range of motion at the shoulder and variety of muscles, more than one exercise is needed to condition them properly too.

You probably don’t need to have 6 different rotator cuff exercises in your program either, just pick 1 for 3 weeks, then change every 3 weeks

See below for 2 exercise variations to get you started.

But it’s worth doing some more research for yourself, or feel free to reach out to me (see details below) for more help.

Don’t forget exercises for the shoulder blades!

The shoulder blade (aka scapula) is also an important piece of the shoulder puzzle.

For healthy shoulder function, it is necessary for there to be independent movement and strength at both shoulder joint and shoulder blade…

Even though they are connected.

It is much rarer to see people in gyms training the muscles of the shoulder blade more directly..

But I frequently see improvements in shoulder function in many of my clients when we add them in.

See below for a cable scapula reaction exercise that you can add in to your training.

But like the rotator cuff, it’s well worth looking into and exploring more scapula exercises for yourself.

ANY muscle acting on the shoulder area is important!

The lats, the pecs, the deltoids, the rhomboids, the traps and so on…

They all need to be strong and work synergistically to help support, and control proper movement of the shoulders when you train.

If the other muscles acting on your shoulder are functioning well, the rotator cuff can do its job of keeping the joint stable and guiding its movement.

Making sure that you have a well rounded training program goes a long way!

Remember the body is “interconnected”…

Zooming even further out…

Never underestimate that being strong and stable in other areas of the body can help your shoulder health.

Strong hips, strong mid section and strong muscles of the back & spine can all have a positive impact on stability.

While it is always good to strengthen muscles acting directly on the shoulder.

Understand that it might be one part of the puzzle if you have ongoing shoulder issues.

Though out of the scope of this newsletter, the neck can also have an influence on shoulder health too.

This is where a full assessment is always so beneficial if you have longstanding issues of the shoulder, or any body part..

If you need any training assistance, or are interested in an assessment or working with me in general.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn, OR email me personally at [email protected].

An assessment is the best way to plan the most effective AND safe training program for you moving forwards.

For now thanks for reading today, and stay tuned for the next edition of Train For Life next Saturday!

Daryl