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Writer's pictureSteve Daines

Shoulder to Shoulder. Looking after that wonderful joint of ours.

Updated: Jul 7, 2022


The shoulder joint! hands down ( excuse the pun ) the most mobile joint of the human body.


In early human history, high shoulder mobility would have been of immense value and utility and a key asset in terms of evolutionary fitness. This would have been Initially for the purpose of climbing, and later throwing, with these skills driving its evolution to being the hyper mobile and supremely dynamic joint that we find ourselves blessed with today. This unfortunately had to come with a trade off with stability of the joint and as a result made the shoulder highly susceptible to injury, were it not to behave as it evolved to be.


These days, largely as a result of humans sitting at desks, hunched over typing and/or holding smartphones in front of them for long periods of time, has led to excessive forward "protraction" and inward rotation of the shoulder joint.


This is something diagnosed as "upper cross syndrome". This slouching forward of the shoulders leads to a compression of the mid and rear section of the shoulder , reducing space which creates friction between joints and three of the four muscles that form a group known as the " Rotator Cuff ". These muscles lie deep within the joint and are responsible for maintaining stability.


They consist of :


  • The Subscapularis which sits at the front of the shoulder,


and then the 3 at the back:

  • The Infraspinatus

  • The Teres minor

  • and finally the Supraspinatus which sits at the top of the posterior ( rear) section.


It is these last 3 that suffer from the compression of the shoulder and that also grow weak from the consistently stretched forward state they find themselves in when in this unnatural postural position.


When we utilise the shoulder in this compressed condition, (when throwing a ball for a example) a shoulder injury arising, local inflammation or an impingement of the joint become increasingly likely. The act of throwing or thrusting our arm forward for any particular reason requires the rotator cuff muscles at the back of the shoulder to activate to control the ascent of the arm, contracting to protect the joint from dislocation. Their strength and functionality along with the postural correction of retracting the shoulder girdle is then imperative for long term shoulder health and resilience.


By doing exercises like the ones seen in this video https://youtu.be/hfebNWCNG00 that laterally and externally rotate the shoulder, and also bring the shoulder blades back together, we target the 3 rotator cuff muscles at the top and the rear of the shoulders. We also target key shoulder girdle retracting mid/upper back muscles the Rhomboids.


This then makes them the cornerstone of any training program aimed at shoulder rehabilitation.


So carry some weight on those shoulders !











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