How To Prevent Shoulder Injuries
by Scott Tousignant · Filed Under: home office fitness
Today’s post is in response to a great question from Paul, one of your fellow Unstoppable Fat Loss blog readers…
“Hey Scott,
I am on the shelf this week as I heal yet another injury this time to my left pec. I was wondering if you had some tips on how to not get injured. I do warm up with cardio, stretch (although I don’t know if I’m doing it long enough or correctly)
Over the past decade, the most frequent injury is upper back and shoulder. I think that I’ve probably over-trained the large muscles and not enough on the smaller supporting ones.
Since I eliminated the bench press my shoulder is 85% better. Any tips are appreciated.
Thanks”
Here’s my video response and I will follow it up with a written summary:
Shoulder Warm Up Exercises
You may download this video by right clicking Prevent Shoulder Injuries
Spending 5 minutes on the treadmill or stationary bike prior to your workout is a good idea. It will elevate your heart rate and body temperature while getting your blood pumping through your body and oxygen flowing to your brain.
I like to use this time to mentally prepare for the workout and block out any potential distractions. But… warming up with cardio is simply not enough to prevent injuries, especially if you are going to be training your upper body.
On days where I’m going to be working out any upper body muscle or muscle group I perform the following exercises after spending 5 minutes walking or riding the bike…
Y’s
T’s
3-in-1 Rotator Cuff Raises
Arm Circles
These exercises get blood flowing to the area of my body that I will be training that day. What I would do next if I was training my chest that day would be to grab some light dumbbells (probably 15 pounds to start). Do 6-10 reps and then increase the weight to 25 pounds, then 40 pounds.
I will be sharing a variety of exercises in future posts to further help you with your goal of preventing shoulder injuries. I’ll also share a few modifications to my grip, which has made a tremendous impact in preventing shoulder injuries for myself.
This issue certainly hit home with me because it was something that I faced for quite some time. I injured my left pec while performing incline bench presses about 12 years ago. That injury effected most of my upper body training for a long time. My left pec, left should, left biceps, and left triceps muscles would always fatigue prior to the right side. It wasn’t so much a pain issue as it was a fatigue issue.
Massage and Active Release Therapy really helped, but the most beneficial thing that I did was perform the above exercises, change my grip, and add a few other exercises to my program that really helped strengthen my rotator cuff.
I hope that his helped Paul and I look forward to providing you with more tips that you can benefit from in future posts.
Keeping It Real,
Scott Tousignant
Hi Scott,
Loving your site and great instruction you provide.
Have you shared your best shoulder strengthening exercises?
I’m not yet a paying customer of yours, do I have to be to get your shoulder exercises?
Keep up the good work,
Ken
Great post Scott,
I did an article on ‘Shoulder Impingement Sydrome’ http://www.crudefitness.com/training/shoulder-impingement-syndrome/
which is what happens when you don’t follow the advice you’ve outlined above.
Both myself and my girlfriend have been at the mercy of it, and I can tell you, it was 9-12 months of correcting form and recovery for me.
Great article Clint and great video that accompanied it. Thanks for sharing man. I really appreciate it.
And great blog by the way. You’ve got some awesome info there.