ajdos
Friends Remembered
- Sep 8, 2010
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I am not some fuckin guru, far from it, but I have 21 years of lifting experience. I have learned the hard way about shoulders and their limitations. So read on maybe you can benefit from my mistakes and trial and error.
Well I think most of us have or will encounter some type of shoulder problems, or injury in our weightlifting endeavors.
Nature designed the shoulder to bear loads in specific ranges of motion, as human beings have evolved from a animal that uses its fore limbs to crawl/walk and now more for reaching and pushing, the shoulder joint itself has had to evolve somewhat with human evolution.
However, like most things that evolve, funtionality usually is not perfect and far from practical in most cases, the shoulder joint being no exception.
Load bearing with the arms raise above the head is especially hard on the rotator cuff.
When it comes to weight lifting several execises can be seen as the culprits of damaging and injuring this joint.
The two biggest are any kind of chest pressing, and any kind of overhead delt pressing...other exercises can bring on injury as well but the biggest two are the aforementioned presses.
Now, with weight lifting and training our first inception into the game was most likely the bench press, and its all too common on a Monday night in any given gym to see trainees of all ages, sizes and shapes pressing away with the straight bar in hopes of increasing their bench press lbs.
One of the first questions you will be asked as a lifer is 'how much can you bench?' - its actually quite ignorant but a part of our sub-culturistic ritual nonetheless.
So, typically trainees blast away with what they think is 'proper form' and yet after a time many will find the flat bench does them in.
Lets take a look at the pressing and see how its bio mechanics can play into the injury of the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff or RC from here on out, is a group of small muscles and ligaments that surround a ball in socket of the humerous into the AC joint at the clavicle. It supports 270 degrees of range of motion.
As the humerous travels away from the body the external rotators in the shoulder blade take on more and more of the load, supporting the shoulder joint at the pectoralis and front deltoids weakest range of motion, at the bottom.
Many trainees bounce the bar off their chest, this is a mistake because the physics are like a whiplash effect, the force on the internal rotators when the weight settles is 5x's that of the actual lbs on the bar so imagine 225 times 5 in PSI at the top and then you wonder why your shoulder hurts.
Some people have interesting genetics that allow them to do bench press with no issues at all, its all about biomechanics at the end of the day.
The bottom line is that much stress is being placed on a small group of muscles and ligaments. so you better keep them strong.
Shoulder pressing is even more so, as the joint was not designed well for over head pressing and many trainees find themselves injured easily by shoulder pressing.
Once again some will never have a single problem here but its all about genetics and biomechanics again.
Now the real purpose of this post is to let you in on some things I have personally learned over the years about keeping the shoulder joint pain free and functional.
Its all about maintenance.
Yes those ghey ass exercises we see women and old people doing.
External rotation.
These are some examples of shoulder articuations.
Glenohumeral Articulations
The very last one is external rotation (one form), keeping this exercise in your stability arsenal is very important. This can also be performed on a cable machine that allows the pulleys to be adjusted to about hip heigth and standing.
Most people will find that their imbalance is the internal rotators are very strong and dominant and the external rotators are weak and become inhibited in the shoulder structure.
When this imbalance occurs its very difficult to get rid of as it begins to compound itself and make the situation get worse faster.
Keeping the balance of strength in this joint is of primo importance if you want to keep your pressing poundages and pec and delt development growing along.
They wont be the only exercises affected, soon to follow will be any arm or back exercise and even squats, believe me I have been there.
The pain from the internal rotation impingement is one that will leach into every day life activites.
Transverse Abduction is another important balancing factor, the rear delts and rhomboids play a major part in this articulation.
The rear delts actually tie directly into the spin so they act as an anchoring point for the deltoid, so keeping them strong is a major stabilization factor of external rotation.
The serratus anterior is also a key player here, and keeping it stability of the scapulae is also a key element of shoulder stability and balance.
Two exercises come to mind, straight arm pullovers on a high pulley, standing. And taking a excercise band and looping it horizontally around some kind of vertical pole or part of gym equiptment take the handles at equidistant points and with straight arms pull your hands back and to your hips, almost like a pullover but at the contraction point stick out your chest.
This keeps the shoulder blades back and from 'winging' or slumping forward, many people who sit in front of computers all day suffer from this postural imbalance.
The pecs, front delt, and biceps tie ins all meet in the same general vicinity, they receive a lot of stimulation and acrue alot of scar tissue which shortens the fibers and draws the shoulders forward, pulling and placing additional stress on the external rotators, if they are weak and over extended they will tear like any other hyperextended muscle.
The door stretch and straight arm stretch are two of the best to break the scar tissue up and lengthen those tightened fibers.
Also, the form we use on presses will make a tremendous difference, keeping your shoulder blades back and your chest up on benching movements insures that you use more pectoralis and less front delt/serratus anterior to do the pushing. Also, using dumbells vs a fixed bar allows the arms to travel unitlaterally and independently, not allowing a dominant side to take the brunt of the weight...this also uses more of the synergism of the smaller balancing muscles keeping joint stability high...and to add to that the range of motion will be more natural to the individuals biomechanics.
In summation, keeping the external rotators strong will be a key element in over all shoulder health, I know a lot of people who neglect this, including myself, and have come to regret it.
Start now before you end up with problems, Im not saying these are the only things you have to do, theres plenty more to it, but in my experience this is one of the biggest reasons trainees get shoulder problems, nothing is insured in bodybuilding and lifting weights, if you push yourself enough you can always become injured, its lowering the probability that this can occur that is very important to your overall shoulder health and gains in the weight room.
Well I think most of us have or will encounter some type of shoulder problems, or injury in our weightlifting endeavors.
Nature designed the shoulder to bear loads in specific ranges of motion, as human beings have evolved from a animal that uses its fore limbs to crawl/walk and now more for reaching and pushing, the shoulder joint itself has had to evolve somewhat with human evolution.
However, like most things that evolve, funtionality usually is not perfect and far from practical in most cases, the shoulder joint being no exception.
Load bearing with the arms raise above the head is especially hard on the rotator cuff.
When it comes to weight lifting several execises can be seen as the culprits of damaging and injuring this joint.
The two biggest are any kind of chest pressing, and any kind of overhead delt pressing...other exercises can bring on injury as well but the biggest two are the aforementioned presses.
Now, with weight lifting and training our first inception into the game was most likely the bench press, and its all too common on a Monday night in any given gym to see trainees of all ages, sizes and shapes pressing away with the straight bar in hopes of increasing their bench press lbs.
One of the first questions you will be asked as a lifer is 'how much can you bench?' - its actually quite ignorant but a part of our sub-culturistic ritual nonetheless.
So, typically trainees blast away with what they think is 'proper form' and yet after a time many will find the flat bench does them in.
Lets take a look at the pressing and see how its bio mechanics can play into the injury of the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff or RC from here on out, is a group of small muscles and ligaments that surround a ball in socket of the humerous into the AC joint at the clavicle. It supports 270 degrees of range of motion.
As the humerous travels away from the body the external rotators in the shoulder blade take on more and more of the load, supporting the shoulder joint at the pectoralis and front deltoids weakest range of motion, at the bottom.
Many trainees bounce the bar off their chest, this is a mistake because the physics are like a whiplash effect, the force on the internal rotators when the weight settles is 5x's that of the actual lbs on the bar so imagine 225 times 5 in PSI at the top and then you wonder why your shoulder hurts.
Some people have interesting genetics that allow them to do bench press with no issues at all, its all about biomechanics at the end of the day.
The bottom line is that much stress is being placed on a small group of muscles and ligaments. so you better keep them strong.
Shoulder pressing is even more so, as the joint was not designed well for over head pressing and many trainees find themselves injured easily by shoulder pressing.
Once again some will never have a single problem here but its all about genetics and biomechanics again.
Now the real purpose of this post is to let you in on some things I have personally learned over the years about keeping the shoulder joint pain free and functional.
Its all about maintenance.
Yes those ghey ass exercises we see women and old people doing.
External rotation.
These are some examples of shoulder articuations.
Glenohumeral Articulations
The very last one is external rotation (one form), keeping this exercise in your stability arsenal is very important. This can also be performed on a cable machine that allows the pulleys to be adjusted to about hip heigth and standing.
Most people will find that their imbalance is the internal rotators are very strong and dominant and the external rotators are weak and become inhibited in the shoulder structure.
When this imbalance occurs its very difficult to get rid of as it begins to compound itself and make the situation get worse faster.
Keeping the balance of strength in this joint is of primo importance if you want to keep your pressing poundages and pec and delt development growing along.
They wont be the only exercises affected, soon to follow will be any arm or back exercise and even squats, believe me I have been there.
The pain from the internal rotation impingement is one that will leach into every day life activites.
Transverse Abduction is another important balancing factor, the rear delts and rhomboids play a major part in this articulation.
The rear delts actually tie directly into the spin so they act as an anchoring point for the deltoid, so keeping them strong is a major stabilization factor of external rotation.
The serratus anterior is also a key player here, and keeping it stability of the scapulae is also a key element of shoulder stability and balance.
Two exercises come to mind, straight arm pullovers on a high pulley, standing. And taking a excercise band and looping it horizontally around some kind of vertical pole or part of gym equiptment take the handles at equidistant points and with straight arms pull your hands back and to your hips, almost like a pullover but at the contraction point stick out your chest.
This keeps the shoulder blades back and from 'winging' or slumping forward, many people who sit in front of computers all day suffer from this postural imbalance.
The pecs, front delt, and biceps tie ins all meet in the same general vicinity, they receive a lot of stimulation and acrue alot of scar tissue which shortens the fibers and draws the shoulders forward, pulling and placing additional stress on the external rotators, if they are weak and over extended they will tear like any other hyperextended muscle.
The door stretch and straight arm stretch are two of the best to break the scar tissue up and lengthen those tightened fibers.
Also, the form we use on presses will make a tremendous difference, keeping your shoulder blades back and your chest up on benching movements insures that you use more pectoralis and less front delt/serratus anterior to do the pushing. Also, using dumbells vs a fixed bar allows the arms to travel unitlaterally and independently, not allowing a dominant side to take the brunt of the weight...this also uses more of the synergism of the smaller balancing muscles keeping joint stability high...and to add to that the range of motion will be more natural to the individuals biomechanics.
In summation, keeping the external rotators strong will be a key element in over all shoulder health, I know a lot of people who neglect this, including myself, and have come to regret it.
Start now before you end up with problems, Im not saying these are the only things you have to do, theres plenty more to it, but in my experience this is one of the biggest reasons trainees get shoulder problems, nothing is insured in bodybuilding and lifting weights, if you push yourself enough you can always become injured, its lowering the probability that this can occur that is very important to your overall shoulder health and gains in the weight room.
