‘Bullet proof shoulders’
Get Stronger. Optimise performance. prevent injuries.
As a musculoskeletal physiotherapist I would have to say shoulder injuries are one of the most common injuries I see. Whether the injury was sustained doing home DIY, at work, or in sport, in many circumstances these can be avoided.
Load management and the volume of work you are asking your body to do, must be something we consider before we take on hours of painting, throwing, or (in the case of cross fitters), high volume sets of kipping pull ups.
Take for example a marathon runner, you would not suddenly expect a person to be able to run a marathon if they have not taken time to strengthen their calves and patiently built up their mileage, allowing their body to adapt to the impact and stress imposed on their legs.
This same principle of progressive overload and adaptation applies specifically to shoulders. However, in my experience it is surprising how often this is overlooked. Now the specific diagnosis of any injury is always unique to the individual, and history of previous injury and psychology certainly come into play. However the principle of injury is in fact very simple and applies to us all.
An injury occurs when you have overloaded the muscle beyond what it can tolerate
So how can you avoid shoulder injuries?
Think of yourself as a professional athlete
Whatever your task is, ask yourself; have I trained my body up for this? If the answer is no, then consider breaking down the task into smaller amounts. For example, instead of painting the ceiling of every room in your house in one day, spread this out over several weekends. This will give your shoulders and body time to rest and recover from the new stimulus and help prevent overload. This of course sounds obvious, but I cannot emphasise how many people do not consider this when doing physical work or exercise. Another example is when performing high volume shoulder to overhead in the gym. You must ensure you have developed the necessary strength in the strict form, before you introduce high rep/ volume work under fatigue!
The famous fable of the tortoise and the hare can not be more true. If you take time to patiently build up your strength, you will win the race in the long term!!
Breaking up the amount you do, will mean your shoulders have time to recover and you can avoid a boom bust scenario. Like many things in life, this proactive approach is slower for sure, but in the long term it is more sustainable and will reduce the likelihood of you having to take time off work and sport through avoiding a potential injury.
2. ‘LIFT, PRESS, PUSH, PULL, CARRY, HOLD, THROW’
Functional strengthening of your shoulders and upper body will mean you can tolerate a greater load and volume of work, do more, and are less likely to get injured. This does not mean you have to exercise every day. Incorporating some simple and comprehensively targeted upper body exercises 2-3x a week can make all the difference.
The stronger you are, the more capacity your muscles have and the less likely your are to get injured
Below is a list of my personal Top 6 shoulder strengthening exercises. By no means is this list exclusive, but I like them because they focus on comprehensive capacity and work the shoulder as a whole. This type of training will better translate to all functional tasks and will also prepare you with a solid foundation to take on a range of sports.
As a guide, we recommend doing 2-3 sets of each exercise, working for 8-12 reps. Ensure you maintain good form and control throughout each movement. For the thoracic/shoulder mobility exercise at the end, we recommend holding this for 20 seconds.
Top 6 shoulder strengthening exercises
Rotator cuff
Exercise Description: Using a light weight, rest your elbow on your knee and rotate your shoulder upwards and back down. Make sure you take this nice and steady and don't rush the exercise. Key focus: Go through the full range of motion.
Scapular Prone Dart
Exercise Description: Holding a light weight, bring arms back, squeeze shoulder blades together and hold for 2 seconds each rep. Key focus: Squeeze shoulder blades together at the top.
Unilateral Ring row
Exercise Description: Using the rings/ TRX, perform single arm pulls. The more horizontal to the ground you go the harder this exercise becomes. Key focus: Try to keep your hips & core parallel.
Reverse KB Overhead press
Exercise Description: Hold a KB upside down then press over your head. Key focus: Maintain stability as you press the KB overhead.
Tempo Closed chain stability press-ups
Exercise Description: Take 3 seconds to control the press up down to the floor, then hold this position for 3 seconds. Push back up at a normal speed. Repeat as prescribed. For a scaled version you can perform the tempo press ups on your knees. Key focus: Tempo means slow. Break these up as needed.
Thoracic/shoulder Mobility
Exercise Description: Stand with your palms against the wall – hinge backwards and feel the stretch in your upper back and shoulders.
Hold this position for 20 seconds. Key focus: Aim to push your shoulders back past your ears.
We hope you have found this blog useful. Please note we do recommend seeing a physiotherapist first, if you have a specific injury, If this is the case you will require a specialist assessment and some of these exercise may not be appropriate for you. This resource is designed for people want to develop their shoulder strength and adaptability and in turn reduce their risk of injury. We also hope the importance of load modification in injury prevention has been emphasised, as this is such a key factor.
If you are after a more comprehensive shoulder strengthening & injury prevention programme, we do have a progressive accessory & mobility 4 week programme for sale £20.00.
Send us a message via our contact us page and we will be able to give you more info on how to access this resource.
Prevent. Revover. Sustain.
21/01/21
SCRX Team