Save Your Shoulders!

The shoulder is one of the most vulnerable joints in the body, and yet we rarely focus our efforts on protecting it. We chase strength and definition in our shoulder muscles without ensuring that the joint can even handle the exercises we put it through. While there are many exercises out there for the shoulders (or any body part for that matter), usually there are just a few that really are safe AND effective.

In the New York Times this week, an article was published touching on some important ideas about the shoulder while providing information about some of these safe and effective exercises. In the link below, you can read the whole article and learn about a few exercises that will help keep your shoulders safe.

A Safer Shoulder Workout

In case you did not read the article above, here are some take aways:

1) The shoulder is easily injured and “exercise” often is a cause, not a cure.

2) Exercise is not inherently bad, but poor technique and hubris can easily lead to issues over time.

3) If you are strict with your form, you will help to stay injury free (good rule for all exercise).

4) Exercises to start with: Upright row (as demonstrated in the article). Lateral raises.

5) Exercises to avoid: Behind the neck presses & pull downs.

What I would add to this is that shoulder health is not just about choosing the right exercises, but also about your breathing, your posture, and your willingness to do the small stuff. Allow me to demonstrate the first two points. First, breathe so that your shoulders move up and down with every breath, then hunch over. Now try to lift your arms over your head. What do you notice? Well besides the fact that everyone else in the office is probably now looking at you, you may also notice that you cannot lift your arms up straight over your head, and it becomes very hard to take a full breath. This means that if you try to pick up a weight, and put it over your head, your shoulder is going to be working x10 as hard in an effort to keep your arm straight over head. This puts a lot of pressure on your rotator cuff, and can easily lead to issues now or later.

As for one’s willingness to do the small stuff, this comes down to taking the time to stretch, roll, and warm up your shoulders before exercise. You only need 5-10 minutes of warm up, but with that you can set yourself up for keeping those shoulders healthy. Check out my previous post Pull Yourself to Better Posture for more ideas on how to work on warming up, breathing, and posture.

In the end, you have to stay smart when it comes to your shoulders, but do not think that shoulder issues are just a natural part of aging. You can keep them healthy by taking some smart steps in your daily life and in your exercise program and can still build some strong, sexy shoulders.