INJURY WRAP-UP: SHOULDER IMPINGEMENT
- thefitbusiness
- Jun 30, 2014
- 3 min read
There are four rotator cuff muscles in your shoulder and two very important considerations to keep them injury-free and functioning properly. Since one out of five people experience rotator cuff injuries, I thought a quick review of how to keep these muscles healthy would be helpful!
The rotator cuff muscles run from your shoulder blade to the top of your arm. Preventing (or promoting healing of) rotator cuff injuries is achieved by being able to keep the shoulder blade stable on the ribcage while your arm has the ability to move freely in the shoulder joint.
The following Injury Wrap-Up from corrective exercise specialist Jess Williams demonstrates how to check if your rotator cuff muscles are at risk for injury and, if they are, what you can do to get everything working together correctly again.
What You Did
While Bench Pressing or Shoulder Pressing, one of your shoulders started hurting.
What You Feel
A general ache that may make it difficult to sleep if you rest on that shoulder. You get a sharp pain when you reach into your back pocket. Sometimes you feel your shoulder “catch” with certain arm movements.
The Diagnosis
Probable Shoulder impingement. This is when the rotator cuff tendons rub along the roof of the shoulder joint (the
acromion process). Repetitive motion with incorrect bench form will cause irritation and swelling, reducing the space through which the rotator cuff tendons can move under the acromion.
The Treatment
Perform the following four times per week.
1. Deltoid SMR. Press a tennis or lacrosse ball into your deltoid near the source of the pain. Roll around keeping constant pressure onto the muscle until you find a very tender spot. Hold against the pain for 2 minutes or until pain decreases.
2. Band external rotation. Hold the end of a band with your elbow tight to your side. Keeping your arm bent at 90 degrees, rotate your forearm away from your body. Do two sets of 10 reps.
3. Blackburn. Lay facedown with arms at your sides. Hold each of these positions for five seconds: Raise your arms out 90 degrees to make a “T” shape with your thumbs up. Turn thumbs down. Move arms in front of you to make a “Y” (hold thumbs up, then down). Now bend your elbows to make a “W” shape with your arms, thumbs up. That is one rep. Do six reps.
4. Rear cable flye. Attach a D-handle to two opposing pulleys and perform a reverse fly, squeezing your shoulder blades together. Complete three sets of 15–20 reps..
4. Lying external rotation. Hold a light dumbbell and lie on your other side. Bend your arm 90 degrees and rotate your forearm away from the floor. Do three sets of 10 to 15.
5. Glenohumeral Mobility - place hand on wall (fingers up) 90 degrees abducted from the body. depress scapula and internaly externally rotate the arm. The scapula is hypermobile if the shoulder comes up with the movement. do SMR and scapula depressions then come back to this exercise. To digress: face your hand on the wall and work counterclockwise away from it until you reach 90 degrees abducted with good form
Prevention
To minimize shoulder strain, bench-press with your shoulder blades pinched down and back. This draws your chest out and places all the stress of the lift on your pecs. Also, vary your angles each pressing session, along with the weight and the reps you use.
FROM THE AUTHOR:
I hope that you find the information in my Injury Wrap-Up
Articles informative. Follow me on Facebook for more info on
Shoulder pain and impingement rehab. Check out my website-
Carolina Personal Trainer for a free workout database where
you can find more progressions to correct and strengthen your
sore shoulders. Remember- Don’t live with pain. Correct it!
Have a sore joint or persistent injury? I’d love to help you
solve it as part of our Injury Wrap-Up series. Send me an email,
and I’ll get back to you.
Jess Williams BS NASM CPT CES PES
President CPT Fitness
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