Do You Want Superman Strong Shoulders?
Do You Get Shoulder Pain?
Have you have ever performed a bench press, bent-over barbell row, overhead barbell press, or a pull-up? Then odds are you have experienced shoulder pain or tightness at some stage in your life. The shoulder joint is the second leading pain of and disability behind low back pain.
Fight your shoulder pain and check your shoulder health with these simple test:
Shoulder flexion:
- Stand with your back on the wall
- Feet about 10-20cm off the wall
- Arms resting down by your sides
- Keeping elbows straight, lift both hands straight up in front
- Finish with them overhead.
Shoulder Abduction:
- Assume starting position from “shoulder flexion”
- Slide wrist up to the side, keeping wrist and elbows on the wall
- Finish with hands touching above head.
*back should stay flat on the wall, ribs should not flare up, and you should be able to breathe normally in this finish position
If these were a struggle or one side was easier/moved more than the other or gave you shoulder pain. It is worth giving these mobility and stability drills a go.
Self Myo-fascial (Muscle) Release For Shoulder Pain:
Pec Minor:
This is best done in a doorway or on a weight rack.
- Grab a Lacrosse ball (or tennis ball if you haven’t/don’t have use of a lacrosse ball)
- Feel under the collarbone for any “knots”
- Lean on a door or weight frame, ball under any tight spots
- Hold for 30 secs-1min until the “tightness” dissolves under the ball
- When these feel good, add a bit of movement:
Place ball under same spots as before
- Raise the arm of the shoulder being worked up to 90° just below eye level.
- Sweep arm from up overhead (same movement as the shoulder flexion test above)
- Bring the arm back at 90° until it is perpendicular to the body
- Pull the arm back halfway between the shoulder flexion movement and perpendicular
- Take the pressure back off the arm as you lower it back to eye level in between each sweep
- Repeat 3-5 sweeps at each position.
Lats:
This can be done either on the floor or against the wall. Warning: Doing it against the floor will definitely hurt a little bit more.
- Put the foam roller under your lat (side/back between shoulder and bottom of ribs will give you the best bang for your buck) , which is just under your armpit and toward your back.
- Externally rotate your shoulder (palm out).
- Roll backward and forward, or if it’s too painful to do so, just hang out for bit.
Activations For Shoulder Pain:
Dying Bug – Arm Lowers
- Lay on back
- Lift legs so hips and knees are bent to 90*
- Reach hands up above the chest.
- Maintaining a neutral spine (don’t let your back pop up) slower lower 1 hands overhead towards the ground.
- Return hand to starting position and repeat on another side.
Quadruped Arm Raises:
- Start out on all 4’s, with wrist under the shoulders and knees under the hips.
- Spread shoulder blades apart, push the floor away from your chest (or push ribcage into your shoulder blades).
- Slowly slide on arm out along the floor as far out in front of you as possible.
- slowly bring the arm back in.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
By releasing off the tight muscles at the front of your chest and then getting the right muscle to pull their weight when using your shoulder it will decrease pain and inflammation and improve healing time. This helps to strengthen the shoulder and helps your brain to trust your shoulder to be able to work pain-free.
If you experience shoulder pain and live on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Book online below. If you aren’t local check out our mobility school here, for more releases.
Need Some Help With Your Mobility:
Check out our Better Mobility Program.(Click Here)
