Shoulder Performance & Rehab » Shoulder Notes

Shoulder Notes: Protect your Rotator Cuff - Strengthen your Shoulder at Home

Chris Melton — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:47:15 +0000

How to Protect your Rotator Cuff

Dave Turpin of Desk Jockey Fitness wrote a very practical article describing what you can do to protect your rotator cuff. The problems he cites are:

Muscle imbalances due to excessive use of the lateral raise
Too much bench pressing or faulty bench pressing technique
Repetitive stress injuries ( this goes beyond sports / workout - and may include job related functions)
Wide grip chins and lat pulldowns - I hurt my shoulder doing weighted wide grip chins about three years ago - now I can barely do five wide chins with just my body weight and I always feel very loose in my injured shoulder when doing this exercise.

Dave then lists four exercises that you can do to protect yourself from future rotator cuff injury - Visit his website to find out what they are and how you can be prepared.

Great Shoulder Exercise You can do at Home

Shoulder exercises don’t always have to involve heavy weights, exercise tubing or going to the gym. Here is a great shoulder development exercise that not only strengthens the entire shoulder complex, but also develops your core muscles.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

© rotater for Shoulder Performance & Rehab, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Videos: How to increase your External Rotation | How to increase your Internal Rotation | How to strengthen your Rotater Cuff
Post tags: bench press, core exercises, lateral raise, muscle imbalances, rotator cuff, shoulder development, shoulder exercises

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Shoulder Notes: Your Rotator Cuff, Shoulder Impingement, Shoulder Anatomy and more

Chris Melton — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:07:25 +0000

What is your Rotater Cuff and How can it be injured?

One of the most common injuries of the shoulder involves the rotator cuff. But exactly what is the rotator cuff and what does it do?

Kennedy Brothers Physical Therapy out of Boston posted a very good article about the rotator cuff written in easy-to-understand terms. Their article includes:

a description of the shoulder joint (anatomy) and why the shoulder can be easily injured
an explanation of shoulder impingement
how rotator cuff tendonitis can occur
ways to prevent shoulder injuries

Another very good blog post from Commonwealth Sports Medicine, entitled – Shoulder Impingement – states that shoulder impingement syndorme “affects at least half of all overhead athletes at some point in their career.”

I especially like their analogy of comparing the precariousness of the shoulder joint to “taking a golf tee and balancing a basketball on top of it- an unstable situation.”

Check out their suggestions for dealing with this injury – rest, ice, strengthening and stretching the rotator cuff and more.

Excellent Shoulder Anatomy Video

This is the best video I’ve seen describing the function and anatomy of the shoulder joint. If you want to know more about how your shoulder functions, then watch the video.

We (the Rotater Guys) head to St. Louis

In 2006,Scott Kay introduced a very crude prototype of the shoulder rehab and stretching device that he had invented to athletic trainers at the National Athletic Trainer Association’s annual conference that was being held in Atlanta.

Because of the response that the Rotater received in Atlanta, Scott proceeded with the development of his shoulder rehab and stretching device – which is now in mass production.

The NATA conference will be at the America’s Center Convention Center in St. Louis. If you’re in the area, then stop by booth #2242. We’d love to meet you and answer your questions.

Tags: rotator+cuff, shoulder+strength, shoulder+impingement, the+Rotater

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Shoulder Notes: Strong Shoulders, Working through Shoulder Pain and Tips For Young Pitchers

Chris Melton — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:01:55 +0000

Here’s a round-up of some of the interesting shoulder information that you can use to make informed decisions about your shoulder.

Bowhunters need Strong Shoulders

(photo courtesy of sorenson photo)

I live in the deep south, Alabama to be exact. Down here, people take their hunting seriously, so if it’s not hunting season, then it’s a good time to get ready for hunting season.

The Hunt Doctors (they are “real” medical doctors) have written “Strengthening Your Shoulders For Bowhunting” in which they explain a little shoulder anatomy in everyday hunter terms and outline a number of exercises to help you develop your shoulder strength. By the way, some of the bows that serious hunters use can require extreme shoulder strength to pull back and then hold for an extended period of time while you wait for the perfect shot. If you think it’s easy, then go to your local hunting store and give it a try.

Should you “work” through a Shoulder Injury?

(photo courtesy of LollyKnit)

A question posed on Stronglifts.com asks about persistent pain in the shoulder and whether to continue lifting weights. “What should I do?” Mehdi’s explanation describes:

the muscle involved, specifically the infraspinatus ( good illustrations )
some of the causes of infraspinatus injuries
some of the symptoms of this rotator cuff injury
some of the ways to deal with this shoulder problem

Mehdi concludes by giving this advice:

“Stay away from painkillers. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Find out what. Educate yourself. Ask your doctor’s advice. But make sure you treat the causes, not the symptoms.

Take it slowly with weight lifting in the meanwhile. Lower the weight, spend time improving technique & slowly build back up. Don’t worry about strength loss, getting rid of injuries is more important in the long run.”

Tips for Preventing Shoulder Injuries in Young Pitchers

(photo courtesy of wjklos)

Brooke deLench, author and noted expert on youth related sports issues has written “Preventing Pitching Injuries” in which she educates parents on some of the things that they can do. She says that there are a number of things that parents and coaches can do to prevent shoulder injuries which include:

ensure proper conditioning
teach correct throwing mechanics
always warmup and stretch
place limits on pitches
don’t allow your child to play through the pain

This is a great article that will educate a parent on how to help their future Cy Young award winner to avoid arm and shoulder injuries. If you are a parent, and your child pitches, then you need to read this article.

Tags: strong+shoulders, shoulder+strength, shoulder+injury, rotator+cuff, pithcing+injuries

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Shoulder Notes: From Frozen Shoulder to Shoulder Strength

Chris Melton — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:29:38 +0000

Shoulder Notes is a series of posts that high-lite various articles, videos and blog posts that contain helpful and current information about your shoulder health and performance.

Frozen Shoulder – What’s the 411?

(photo courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik)

Lauran Neergaard an AP medical writer has written an article entitled “Early Care Helps Frozen Shoulder” in which she illustrates some of the mysteries surrounding frozen shoulder.

Why doesn’t adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) affect the same shoulder twice?
Why does frozen shoulder occur most often in women?
Why does frozen shoulder sometimes migrate to the other shoulder?

Please note the title of Lauran’s article – Early Care Helps Frozen Shoulder. If you’re having shoulder issues and you fit the demographics outlined in the article and you don’t remember injuring your shoulder, then don’t waste any time - see your physician immediately.

Basic Shoulder Rehabilitation

Mednets has produced a basic, but thorough Patient Information Guide to Shoulder Rehabilitation with real pictures of shoulder rehab exercises (not drawings) and clear, understandable instructions that describe how the various exercises are to be performed.

It’s not flashy. It’s not high-tech. All of the exercises can be performed at home with items that you already have or can easily acquire.

What is a Rotator Cuff Injury?

Ask almost anyone this question and you’re likely to get a wide variety of vague answers. So what is a rotator cuff injury? Here is a very short (about 45 seconds) and very basic video animation that does a very good job of illustrating and explaining the injury. I must warn you that you will have to sit through a short commercial (about 30 seconds) at the beginning.

Shoulder Rehab for Baseball Pitchers

(photo courtesy of Glover Bryant Communications)

Kris Bensen, a starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, has written an article – Shoulder Rehab: A Shoulder Rehab Throwing Program For Baseball Pitchers. Kris describes a progressive throwing program designed to rehab a pitcher’s shoulder while rebuilding his arm strength.

Shoulder Strength and Stabilization

(photo courtesy of Cronfeld)

Mark Dilworth, a certified fitness trainer, former NCAA division I athlete and creator of My Fitness Hut Blog wrote an article entitled “Strengthen and Stabilize Your Shoulder Girdle”.

Mark explains three of the most common shoulder injuries (frozen shoulder, shoulder tendonitis and rotator cuff injury) and some of the steps that you can take during your training to avoid them.

Tags: frozen+shoulder, shoulder+rehab, rotater+cuff+injury, shoulder+rehab+for+baseball+pitchers, shoulder+strength, shoulder+stabilization

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh