The shoulder is a miracle joint. It's a flat ball joint that offers a lot of mobility, with the muscles surrounding the joint providing stability. This enables us to push, pull, and toss with devotion.
There is one downside, however.
The shoulders are thrown up. Like a lot. Once you've been lifting for a long time, there comes a moment where your shoulder barks at you. If this happens or you want to take steps to prevent it from happening, these tips are for you. Four respected coaches share their favorite post-rehab shoulder exercises to keep your shoulders strong and flexible.
However, do not forget matter how solid this advice is, it should never replace the recommendations of your doctor or physical therapist, nor is it intended to diagnose the type and severity of a shoulder injury. These exercises are for you to strengthen the shoulder joint when you come back from an injury or have undiagnosed shoulder pain.
They might not be the most blatant moves, but your shoulders will be better once you've incorporated them into your rehab program.
TRX face pull to Y
Travis Pollen, Ph.D., is a professor of exercise science, personal trainer, and co-founder of the Strength For Yoga program and co-founder of the 3M Athletic Performance gym.
When dealing with a shoulder injury or returning from a shoulder injury, moving your shoulder overhead can be disruptive. While the culprit of the problem is often multifactorial, one move that can work wonders is the lower trap raise, or "Y". The Y is a bracket to target the lower trapezius as the scapula rotates upward, which helps bring the arm smoothly over the head.
The Y can be performed on a variety of machines - dumbbells, cables, or a suspension trainer. One variant is the TRX Face Pull to Y Combo. This exercise takes advantage of the fact that we are stronger eccentrically than concentric, which means that we can use more resistance in this variation than with a normal Y.
To do the exercise on a suspension trainer, row your elbows back up, twist your shoulders outward, and push straight up over your head in a Y. From there, lower your arms all the way forward and keep your elbows straight. Focus on moving slowly through the eccentric Y and controlling the movement through the base of your shoulder blades.
To find the right resistance, experiment with moving your feet away from the anchor (easier) or towards the anchor (more challenging). "
Programming suggestions: Two to three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions as part of your warm-up workout or in combination with a lower body exercise as a mobility / recovery exercise. For example:
1A. RDL variation: 6 to 12 repetitions
1B. TRX face pull to Y: 10 to 15 repetitions
External rotation to push
Serratus Press
Allan Bacon, Ph.D. is a former dentist who is now an online personal trainer and specializes in training powerlifters and body composition clients.
“The external rotation for pushing is one of my favorite exercises for strengthening external rotators for overhead stability. In addition, the Serratus Press is an excellent movement for the stability of the shoulder blade and shoulder blade. The latter also greatly relieves the rotator cuff.
When combined, they help increase movement and stability of the shoulder joint, and I find that the serratus is an often overlooked muscle group, especially in patients with shoulder instability. I love these two movements because they are easily accessible for both home gyms and commercial establishments, are suitable for athletes of all skill levels, and are very effective. "
External rotation to press important technical points:
- Place your ligaments or cables between your shoulder and eye level to prevent internal rotation of your shoulders.
- Retract your shoulder blade throughout the movement.
- Keep your elbows in line with your shoulders.
- As you rotate to push some of the movement, be sure to keep your arms in line with or behind your ears.
Important technical points:
- Put your ribbons or cables at shoulder level with significant tension (no sagging)
- The elbows should stay in place throughout the movement and pressing should only be done by flexing the serratus muscles. You can think of the serratus as the muscle that lines the 1st through 8th ribs on the side of your chest, just below the pectoral muscles.
- Push forward as far as you can and let the serratus relax and return to the starting position. Remember that the elbows should not bend at all during the movement. The movement should only be done with a back and forth movement of the shoulder itself.
Programming suggestions: Combine these exercises in your warm up before doing an upper or lower body workout. Doing one or two sets of 12-15 reps works well. For example,
1A. Press Serratus: 12 to 15 reps
1B. External rotation for pushing: 12 to 15 repetitions
Toothed front wall slide
Bo Babenko is a physiotherapist and strength trainer who specializes in strengthening the body, mind and soul.
“The serratus anterior muscle is the most neglected muscle throughout training. The decisive factor is how the shoulder blade rotates on the chest. The analogy I often use with patients who end up with biceps and / or labral problems is that when they have these other 20 or so little guys giving them, they probably only use the big boy in front to lift things to be able to help."
The serratus anterior is unique in the way it moves and encloses from the side of the ribs to the underside of the scapula. The wall slides demonstrated in the video are one of my all-time favorite methods to challenge the shoulders and improve the mobility of the shoulder joint. "
Programming suggestions: This is a perfect torso warm-up exercise before hitting the weights. When you do a set of 10 to 12, your shoulders are ready for action.
Belt press stabilization
Dean Somerset is a personal trainer, strength coach, professional fitness instructor, and writer based in Canada.
“When training the rotator cuff, most exercises involve moving the shoulder through a range of motion, one of the main functions of the cuff being to stabilize the shoulder. This is why the band press stabilization is fantastic for teaching stabilization in the shoulder that maintains the 90-90 position with your arm outstretched to your side and your elbow bent. The pressing arm exerts an alternating force on the shoulder that it has to work against on each rep, which makes it a very demanding shoulder stability exercise. "
Programming suggestions: You have two options here. Performed as a warm-up exercise with 10 to 15 repetitions per side. Or combine it with a strength recovery movement exercise, especially one that involves the shoulder. For example:
1A. Single-sided landmine press: 8 to 12 repetitions per side
1B. Band pressure stabilization: 10 to 15 repetitions per side
