I help people who are tired of their aches and pains get stronger, feel younger, and achieve a level of fitness they didn’t know was still possible
3 Tips for Tender Shoulders
Painful shoulders may not limit your ability to move around like low back or lower body joint pain…
…but painful shoulders can create some major limits when it comes to upper body activities, like upper body strength training, or any activities that require you to lift your arms overhead (tennis, swimming, etc.).
Part of the issue with the shoulder is that it’s inherently less stable than other joints in the body which is ironically what also gives it such a large range of motion.
It’s not a full ball and socket like your hip — it’s more like a golf ball sitting on a tee, and a golf ball can be knocked off of a tee pretty easily.
That’s the cause of most shoulder pain — the joint isn’t staying centered.
Getting the shoulder re-centered can require help from a physical therapist, but there are also three basic movement requirements for healthy shoulders and if you’re lacking in any of the three you need to work on them.
1) CORE STABILITY
A lot of people think the core is just related to back health, but really your core affects all of the joints in your body.
Core stability isn’t about ab training per se — it’s about creating a solid cylinder between your rib cage and your pelvis, and you need that solid cylinder to create the foundation for your shoulder blades (the muscles that stabilize your shoulder blades form a “sling” of muscle that connects through your core).
The free PDF offered on my HOMEPAGE goes through the steps for setting up that stable cylinder, and done properly, most strength training exercises will develop core strength and stability.
If you’re going to do specific core exercises, stick with planks and similar exercises that require your torso to stay stable without crunching, extending, or side bending.
2) THORACIC SPINE (UPPER BACK) MOBILITY
I talked about thoracic spine mobility before in THIS ARTICLE.
When talking about shoulder health, the ability for the shoulders and shoulder blades to do their job is dependent on the upper back being able to extend and flatten when the arms go overhead.
If your upper back is stiff or overly flexed forward it won’t be able to move when needed and your shoulders won’t be able to function properly.
Work on that mobility!
3) SCAPULAR (SHOULDER BLADE) STABILITY
Shoulder blade issues can be a little challenging to address…
…they’re behind you where you can’t see them, and it’s hard to feel when they’re doing things wrong.
A good example of when shoulder blades aren’t doing their job well is when you see someone do a push up and there are boney “wedges” sticking up out of their back.
Those wedges are the shoulder blades failing to lay flat against the rib cage and instead are tipping up, which destabilizes the shoulder joint itself.
Shoulder blades also need to rotate upward (but not shrugged upward toward your ears) as the arms move overhead.
Many adults have shoulder blades that are stuck down and cannot rotate upward easily, and a lifetime spent mostly sedentary contributes to that.
The exercise in the video below develops the serratus muscles that help the shoulder blades lay flat AND helps develop shoulder blade upward rotation when the arms move overhead.
Keep in mind this exercise is more about quality than quantity, so don’t muscle it by shrugging your shoulders upward.
If you don’t have much mobility you’re better off working the range of motion you do have than trying to force it.
It takes time to develop mobility and control together.
Keep those shoulders healthy, strong, and pain-free!
