mc on the shoulder

mc ( remember mc? there is a interview with her that I did here) has put up a very detailed piece on the mechanics of the shoulder:

Part 1 : the amazing engineering that is the shoulder, part 1: scapula and shoulder girdle

Part 2 : the amazing shoulder - part 2: glenohumeral joint & muscles (yes rotator cuff too)

There is some fascinating reading there.

In part one of this quick tour of the amazing shoulder we looked particularly at the shoulder girdle and the muscles that act pretty much directly on the scapula. The main take away was that significant muscles like the traps, rhomboids, pec minor, serratus anterior and levator scapula all work pretty much *just* to move the scapula and so reposition the shoulder joint socket to extend range of motion for the arm moving in the shoulder.

In this piece, we'll overview those pixie rotator cuff muscles and look at why they can be such a pain - in the shoulder - and how understanding the movements these muscles support may help reduce injury risk.

We'll also take a quick look at the big muscles like the lats that opperate on the main shoulder joint, the glenohumral joint. From here we'll speculate about shoulder injuries and habits to avoid them.