Recently, I’ve been hanging at a local gym, providing physical therapy in Bethesda and McLean to their members and the most common injuries involve their shoulders.
If you do a lot of weight training or CrossFit or are interested in having healthy shoulders for years to come, keep reading!
Shoulder injuries often occur when the shoulder is repetitively challenged at the limits of its motion, where joints are most vulnerable.
Many people attempt to solve this issue by stretching. Instead, focus on these two areas.
End-Range Strength Training
When your shoulder is pushed to its extreme ranges of motion, the muscles responsible for controlling the shoulder joint are challenged. These muscles struggle to generate the force needed to maintain stability because they are weaker in these positions. This weakness increases the risk of overuse injuries and may create wear and tear on the joint.
Physical therapy is the key to addressing these issues effectively. Rather than focusing solely on increasing flexibility, it’s about training the muscles to handle these extreme positions and generate the necessary strength to support the shoulder. Here is a drill I recently taught a weightlifter struggling with shoulder pain when lifting weights overhead to address this issue.
Get the rib cage moving
The rib cage is the foundation that your shoulder blade rests on, and the position of your rib cage will direct your shoulder where to go as you move.
As you reach overhead, your upper chest should expand. Unfortunately, many weightlifters or people who sit at desks all day have stiff chests that prevent this, resulting in extra stress to the shoulder joints.
If you love to crush chest workouts or are sitting a lot, give this exercise a shot as part of your daily routine or warmup.
What to do if you have months or years of shoulder pain
Work smarter, not harder.
Many people I’ve worked with have seemingly tried everything but didn’t first learn where the pain was coming from. They could have saved a lot of time and effort by first discovering the root cause. If you want to finally solve your shoulder pain, contact us to schedule a physical therapy evaluation today!
