How to Create Strong, Healthy, and Powerful Shoulders - Part 2

Recently, I wrote Part 1 of this shoulder series, which you can read HERE.

In this segment of the four part series on shoulder health and how to make your shoulders stronger, more powerful, and more mobile, we are going to talk about strengthening the movements they need to go through to be all of these things.

Being strong doesn't just happen. It's a choice you make day and day out.

Look at every healthy and incredibly strong person and ask yourself, how did they get there? What would it take for me to become like that (aside from great genetics)?

Well, this is the first step. Well, technically the second. Part one was the first step.

Once we've nailed down thoracic spine mobility, we can look at actual shoulder movement.

There are 8 different types of shoulder movement that need to occur in order for us to minimize our likeliness of injury and maximize our potential for strength and power development. Heck, even for maximizing our potential for growing some monstrous delts.

These are all of them:

Protraction/Retraction

Protraction and Retraction are huge components of every exercise you will ever do. Whether you're performing a deadlift, squat, bench press, row, or overhead press, you will use one or both of these movements.

Example: During a deadlift, you have to create some retraction to put your shoulder blades into a secure position to minimize the likeliness of shoulder injury.

Example: During the overhead press, you have to protract your shoulder blades forward to allow for proper upward scapular rotation, which looks like this:

(Skip to 2:25)

Here's the breakdown:

4 Point Scapular Protraction/Retractions

The goal is to keep your back in a neutral position while performing these. If you find yourself shrugging every time you protract (move the shoulder blades forward), you may need to reduce the range of motion you're using.

Cable Scapular Retractions

(Video Credit: bearss28)

As much as possible, try to keep yourself in a neutral position throughout your entire body. Over extending the lower back can turn this exercise into more of a shrug instead of a retraction.

Depression/Elevation

Hanging Scapular Depressions

Keep the torso in a slightly extended position (chest up) in order to get the lats and mid/low traps to activate efficiently.

Barbell Overhead Shrugs

(Video Credit: Tony Gentilcore)

Relax the shoulders, but keep the arms straight. Often people become very lat dominant, meaning they're always trying to pull the shoulders down or squeezing the armpit to create lat tension. It's important to have movement through every plane of motion, including upward scapular rotation (shown here) especially for exercises like the shoulder press and activities like throwing or swimming.

Adduction/Abduction

Adduction and abduction become involved in any exercise where you have to move your arms. So, all of them.

Any time the shoulder moves away from the middle of the body, that's abduction (like abducting someone, you take them away). Any time the arm moves towards the body, it's adduction (like adding something to the body).

There are more than one type of adduction/abduction movements. There's horizontal and rotational movements as well. Here's a couple version you should learn to strength your shoulder movement and keep your shoulder healthy and strong.

No Monies (can also be done without a band) Rotational Abduction

(Video credit: Flo Fitness)

The opposite of this would be along the lines of a chest fly or pulling this band inward towards your chest from a post

Supine Arm Slides on Roller (Vertical Adduction/Abduction)

Supine External Rotation Stick Slides on Roller

(Video Credit: Dean Somerset)

Internal Rotation/External Rotation

Internal and external rotation play vital roles in shoulder health. Everything from overhead presses to bench press to pull-ups involve rotation.

Band Upright Row to Rotation (External Rotation)

Prone Overhead band Pull

Use as much control during the movement as possible. It should not look like a flailing fish on the ground.

Prone Prisoner Shoulder Rotations (Internal Rotation/External Rotation)

(Credit: Dean Somerset) This is a more advanced technique

Similarly, you want to create as much controlled movement in the joint as possible. Challenge your end range of motion as much as possible without causing pain. If you do start to feel discomfort in the joint, back off the intensity a bit and keep practicing. Filming yourself doing it can make a big difference as well as it's an easy way to check for technical errors.

Tune in on next week for Part 3 of how to create strong, healthy, and powerful shoulders. We'll discuss how to strengthen and hypertrophy (grow) the living sh*t out of them through compound and isolation exercises.

#Strong #Healthy #Powerful #Shoulders #Movement #Part2