Interesting calisthenic side raise for delts

Kelly on the Shoulder

I am learning a lot from this guy

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.

Shoulder health

My left shoulder sometimes bothers me a bit...tight muscles in the upper back I reckon - and as i've got older, exercises for joint health rather than ego big muscles have become more important.

I now regularly include face pulls (described here) with a resistance band, YWLTs, stick ups (as prescribed here) and rotator cuff exercises which Rob from Mountain Athlete calls the Shoulder Hand Job.....er right

Weight Training wrecks shoulders?

This is an interesting looking one.

They compared people that trained with weights with a set of controls who didn't.

• The weight trainers were less mobile. They had decreased mobility when compared with the control group for all active range of motion measurements except external rotation.
• The weight trainers had strength imbalances. Presumably there was a lack of balance between the pushing and pulling muscles, reading between the lines - people tend to do lots of pushing and little pulling....which leads to such strength imbalances.
  

So, weight trainers are

predisposed to strength and mobility imbalances as a result of training. The imbalances identified have been associated with shoulder disorders in the general and athletic population; thus, these imbalances may place RWT participants at risk for injury.

It is true. Even forgetting the weights some people train with hundreds of pushups and no balancing pulling moves. This will lead to problems.

It is ironic that those who are training are those who may end up less mobile and on their way to shoulder injuries due to muscle imbalances.

Shoulder joint and muscle characteristics in the recreational weight training population.

Shoulder disorders attributed to weight training are well documented in the literature; however, a paucity of evidence-based research exists to describe risk factors inherent to participation. Shoulder joint and muscle characteristics in the recreational weight training (RWT) population were investigated to determine specific risk-related adaptations that may occur from participation. Ninety participants, men between the ages of 19 and 47 (mean age 28.9), including 60 individuals who participated in upper-extremity RWT and 30 controls with no record of RWT participation, were recruited. Active range of motion (AROM), posterior shoulder tightness (PST), body weight-adjusted strength values, and agonist/antagonist strength ratios were compared between the RWT participants and the control group. Statistical analysis identified significant differences (p < 0.001) between the groups when analyzing shoulder mobility. The RWT participants had decreased mobility when compared with the control group for all AROM measurements except external rotation, which was greater. Strength ratios were significantly greater in the RWT group when compared with the control group (p < or= 0.001), implying agonist/antagonist muscle imbalances. The findings of this investigation suggest that RWT participants are predisposed to strength and mobility imbalances as a result of training. The imbalances identified have been associated with shoulder disorders in the general and athletic population; thus, these imbalances may place RWT participants at risk for injury. Common training patterns are biased toward large muscle groups such as the pectorals and deltoids but neglect muscles responsible for stabilization such as the external rotators and lower trapezius. Exercise selection that mitigates strength and mobility imbalances may serve to prevent injury in this population. Clinicians and strength and conditioning professionals should consider the biomechanical stresses and adaptations associated with RWT when prescribing upper-extremity exercises