30 Days of Shoulders: 1-10

If you’re reading this right now, chances are… You have two shoulders. One of them doesn’t feel so good. The shoulder is one of the most frequently injured areas of the body. These tips, on top of being gluten free, will help keep your shoulders healthy long-term and help you continue to kick ass and take names in the gym. Day 1 – First Fix These Two Mistakes There are many things to consider when it comes to why someone’s shoulder may be bothering him or her: poor soft tissue quality, programming imbalance, weak this, overactive that, they wore blue on a Wednesday, etc. I don’t know. It’s a lot. But more often than not, it’s how someone performs certain exercises. This factor often gets overlooked. Take the dumbbell row for example. It’s not uncommon to see one or both of these mistakes being made: Too much glenohumeral extension. I call it the “more ROM must be better” scenario. In this situation, each scapula dumps forward putting excessive stress on the bicep tendon. Not allowing the scapulae to move around the rib cage. Let that shit move, yo. Address those two things and your shoulders may not hate you as much. Day 2 – Decide If Overhead Pressing is a Good Fit One simple screen I use to ascertain if overhead pressing is a good fit for someone is to look at his shoulder flexion – his ability to bring his arms overhead. Sometimes you’ll see one or both of these compensations: excessive lumbar extension and/or excessive forward head posture. The culprit could be a few things: Soft tissue restrictions in the lats, pecs, triceps, etc. Or even postural considerations like upper cross syndrome. Although, admittedly, I’ve come to realize this is less of a thing and the culprit is usually addressing postural habits. Insufficient ability to access scapular upward rotation, protraction, or posterior tilt. Lack of anterior core stability or lumbo-pelvic control. Bony restriction, which, unless you’re a wizard, you’re not fixing with any amount of corrective exercise. Note: If you are a wizard, can we hang out? Anyway, if someone exhibits the inability to bring his arms overhead without going into excessive rib flair, it’s likely not going to be in his best interest to hoist a barbell in that direction either. This isn’t to say he’ll never be able to press overhead or, I don’t know, perform barbell snatches paired with handstand walks over broken glass for AMRAP. Never say never. But rather, for the time being, it may be more prudent to opt for exercises that’ll be a better fit. This is a straightforward screen, which gives me important information as a coach, and ammunition to sell the idea that one needs to earn the right to overhead press. Day 3 – Assess, Reassess, and Release Shit If someone’s shoulder flexion is lacking, I’ll use the assess and reassess approach, tossing in a “corrective” layer to see if I can induce an improvement. If it works, cool, I’m the man. If not, well, shit gets awkward and I’ll just start doing shadow puppets. Kidding. I’ll just move onto the next corrective layer. The shoulder blades are at the mercy of the thoracic spine. If that area doesn’t move then it’ll be hard for the scapulae to move as well. The first layer is what I like to call “release shit.” Take a look: In the video I use Acumobility balls to “release” the area and see whether or not I can improve overhead mobility. Day 4 – Getting the Ribcage to Move The shoulder blades are at the mercy of the thoracic spine and, in particular, the rib cage. If that area is incapable of moving (or getting 360 degrees of expansion) then the ability to bring the arms overhead can often be compromised. I know most people don’t have enough eye rolls to give once the topic of positional breathing enters the conversation, but all we’re talking about here is one or two drills. That’s ten or so “breaths” and your shoulders will thank you in the long run. Does this mean you can jump right into barbell snatches, kipping pull-ups, or whateverthefuck? No. These drills allow “access” to overhead ROM via improved position and stability. The appropriate move may mean “fake overhead pressing” like landmine press variations, or maybe controlled tempo dumbbell overhead presses. Either way, these drills may allow a window of overhead training and I believe they’re well worth it. One drill I love is the dead bug because it hammers home the concept that proximal stability equals distal mobility. Watch the video and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Day 5 – Improving Overhead Mobility (Upper Traps) To move the arms overhead it’s important to improve scapular protraction, posterior tilt, and maybe most important of all, upward rotation. Three areas play a role in upward rotation: serratus anterior, upper traps, and lower traps. All act as force couplers to “pull” the shoulder blade into upward rotation as the humerus elevates overhead, kinda like when the Night King pulled a “come at me, bro” pose toward
Origin: 30 Days of Shoulders: 1-10