The shoulder is a complex joint. More complex than maybe any other joint in the body.
It has 6 degrees of freedom – meaning it can move in all 3 planes of motion. Most joint can only move in one or two planes.
The ‘socket’ of the ‘ball & socket’ joint is the scapular, or
shoulder blade. Is basically suspended by 17 muscles like a trapeze artist at the circus with little ability to maintain balance and stability.
It’s a joint dependent on that shoulder blade, the upper spine, the rib cage, the collar bone and its associated joints to be able to function normally.
Being so dependent on other body parts to “do their job” well leads to the shoulder suffering a lot of wear and tear overtime.
In this blog post we’re going to talk mainly about maintaining shoulder health specifically in an overhead position. If you have pain lifting overhead in a shoulder press or snatch or overhead squat, then this blog will show you how to regain both mobility and stability at the top of your shoulder range of motion.
Thoracic Mobility
We like to start by address thoracic mobility first. Without it, the scapula and shoulder joint can’t function appropriately. Try these exercises out to regain thoracic extension mobility.
Scapular Stability, Control, and Coordination
Now that you’ve started to improve your thoracic spine mobility, start improving the strength, control and coordination or your scapular stabilizers. Try these!
Shoulder Joint Mobility & Flexibility
Before getting strong overhead, we need to endure we can reach overhead adequately. Here’s how to improve the mobility of the shoulder joint and flexibility of its associated muscles.
Shoulder Stability and Strength
Now that you’re reaching overhead better than you have in months or even years, let's get stronger in the stabilizing muscles in order to prevent future injury when lifting heavy overhead.
The exercises above are meant to give you some basic guidance to improve your ability to lift overhead without worsening your injury. But there are so many other components to a comprehensive treatment plan as well as identify your specific root cause of your issue.
If you are ready to get out of pain once and for all, give us a call today and discover if we’re the right fit for you!