So I have heard many members complain about shoulder issues. Many of these issues can be avoidable and other issues are bound to happen. It is just part of any sport we partake in. I will try to address causes of shoulder issues, ways to try and prevent them before they happen and some exercises that can also help and almost alleviate the pain.
Many of us that lift weights, especially those that really want to sculpt their bodies that we inadvertently place more stress on our shoulders than they can handle. I will start with the Barbell Bench Press. I have read many threads and posts with members saying that they don't perform this exercise because of a bum shoulder. The issue with those that have developed shoulder issues from performing barbell bench presses is; your form. Many that are into bodybuilding like to keep their elbows flared out at a 90 degree angle. Focusing on getting that nice stretch at the bottom and feeling the pump in their pecs. Benching with your elbows at a 90 degree angle places a tremendous amount of unneeded stress on our shoulders. Specifically our anterior deltoids. The next issue that people with shoulder issues have is that when they begin to press they roll their shoulders forward. Now this is making the shoulders the prime mover instead of the pectoralis major. While performing the Bench Press our shoulders should always be behind our chest. The way to ensure this is to retract your scapulars(Pinch your shoulder blades together and keep them in this position throughout the movement). Another critical part of the bench press is our legs. I understand leg drive is primarily used by powerlifters since they are attempting max lifts or lifting extremely heavy loads. But for those that have shoulder issues learning to use you legs will help take pressure off of your shoulders as well. I mentioned earlier how many people like to bench with their elbows flared out at a 90 degree angle. To save your shoulders as you are lowering the weight you should be bringing your elbows closer to your body basically at a 45 degree angle. Before I go any further. I want you to flex your chest as you read this. And ask yourself what muscle group did you use to flex your chest besides you chest. For me when I flex my chest my lats activate that movement. The same goes for the bench. You should be starting the pushing movement by activating your lats. Once that has been accomplished the chest takes over and finally the lockout portion of the bench is performed by your triceps. This also applies for shoulder press. Keep your shoulder blades pinched together to perform the movement. Its called staying tight and provides support for you shoulders.
Another key factor in shoulder injuries and issues, is lack of mobility. Lack of mobility in the shoulder joint and lack of mobility in your thoracic spine area. You should be stretching everyday. Now I won't go into all the specific stretches for the shoulder since I believe that it is common knowledge and can be googled. But I will touch an a few things. To increase your thoracic mobility take a foam roller and place it in you thoracic region and just put your arms over head and let gravity do it's job. In time you will have opened up your thoracic mobility. As you increase your mobility you can add some weights and eventually work up to a barbell. You can also just lay on the floor and and grab a barbell overhead and just let yourself relax and this will help with thoracic mobility as well.
Another part of keeping your shoulders healthy that should be performed at least three times a week. Is internal and external rotations. Banded pull apart and banded shoulder dislocations. Floss bands are great for getting more blood flow to our ligaments and tendons. Ligaments and tendons take longer to heal because they are small and blood does flow to them like it does to our chest, quads, arms. This is where the floss bands come into play or an inner tube tire. You take these floss bands and wrap the area that you want to fix. This gets new blood into the area to help repair any injury that you might have. This has to be done consistently in order for it to work but it works!
Many of us that lift weights, especially those that really want to sculpt their bodies that we inadvertently place more stress on our shoulders than they can handle. I will start with the Barbell Bench Press. I have read many threads and posts with members saying that they don't perform this exercise because of a bum shoulder. The issue with those that have developed shoulder issues from performing barbell bench presses is; your form. Many that are into bodybuilding like to keep their elbows flared out at a 90 degree angle. Focusing on getting that nice stretch at the bottom and feeling the pump in their pecs. Benching with your elbows at a 90 degree angle places a tremendous amount of unneeded stress on our shoulders. Specifically our anterior deltoids. The next issue that people with shoulder issues have is that when they begin to press they roll their shoulders forward. Now this is making the shoulders the prime mover instead of the pectoralis major. While performing the Bench Press our shoulders should always be behind our chest. The way to ensure this is to retract your scapulars(Pinch your shoulder blades together and keep them in this position throughout the movement). Another critical part of the bench press is our legs. I understand leg drive is primarily used by powerlifters since they are attempting max lifts or lifting extremely heavy loads. But for those that have shoulder issues learning to use you legs will help take pressure off of your shoulders as well. I mentioned earlier how many people like to bench with their elbows flared out at a 90 degree angle. To save your shoulders as you are lowering the weight you should be bringing your elbows closer to your body basically at a 45 degree angle. Before I go any further. I want you to flex your chest as you read this. And ask yourself what muscle group did you use to flex your chest besides you chest. For me when I flex my chest my lats activate that movement. The same goes for the bench. You should be starting the pushing movement by activating your lats. Once that has been accomplished the chest takes over and finally the lockout portion of the bench is performed by your triceps. This also applies for shoulder press. Keep your shoulder blades pinched together to perform the movement. Its called staying tight and provides support for you shoulders.
Another key factor in shoulder injuries and issues, is lack of mobility. Lack of mobility in the shoulder joint and lack of mobility in your thoracic spine area. You should be stretching everyday. Now I won't go into all the specific stretches for the shoulder since I believe that it is common knowledge and can be googled. But I will touch an a few things. To increase your thoracic mobility take a foam roller and place it in you thoracic region and just put your arms over head and let gravity do it's job. In time you will have opened up your thoracic mobility. As you increase your mobility you can add some weights and eventually work up to a barbell. You can also just lay on the floor and and grab a barbell overhead and just let yourself relax and this will help with thoracic mobility as well.
Another part of keeping your shoulders healthy that should be performed at least three times a week. Is internal and external rotations. Banded pull apart and banded shoulder dislocations. Floss bands are great for getting more blood flow to our ligaments and tendons. Ligaments and tendons take longer to heal because they are small and blood does flow to them like it does to our chest, quads, arms. This is where the floss bands come into play or an inner tube tire. You take these floss bands and wrap the area that you want to fix. This gets new blood into the area to help repair any injury that you might have. This has to be done consistently in order for it to work but it works!
