Chronic Shoulder Pain - The Solution!

This is not medical advice. If you’ve recently had an accident, go see a doctor.

Read this post and fix your shoulders!

The Problem

People are suffering! In the United States alone there are over 500,000 shoulder surgeries per year!

The Cause

Joint pain is caused by overstretching ligaments due to poor posture and muscle imbalance.

Modern man spends too much time sitting, which causes excessive rounding of the thoracic spine, and internal rotation and elevation of the shoulders.

Poor posture and muscle imbalances can lead to impingement and pain.

The Solution

Posture

Most habitual shoulder pain can be improved with better posture.

Good Standing Posture

1. Stand tall with feet hip width apart, twist your feet into the ground and squeeze your glutes to level your hips

2. Brace your core as if you were peeing, laughing, or about to get punched in the stomach

3. Chest up towards the ceiling

4. Externally rotate and anti-shrug your shoulders

5. Lastly, tuck your chin in as if something smells bad in front of you

Good Sitting Posture

1. Keep your hips neutral and maintain the normal low back curve

2. Align and stack your ears, shoulders, and hips

3. Sit evenly and avoid leaning to one side

4. Place computer as close to eye level as possible

5. Take regular breaks or change positions often

Mobility

Hanging is the ultimate upper body mobility exercise. With hanging alone, you can fix your pain and avoid unnecessary shoulder surgery!

1. *Hanging is not recommended if you have unstable or dislocating shoulders, in precarious physical health, or with severe osteoporosis.

2. Once you can raise your arm to shoulder height with strength, you can begin hanging.

3. Begin with your feet on the ground and hold for as long as you can.

4. Once you can pick up your feet and hang for 30 seconds, perform Scapular pulls to strengthen the muscles around your shoulder blades.

Hanging is the only exercise you need to improve your upper body mobility and get more space in your shoulder joint, however, here are 4 additional mobility exercises to try:

• Lay of the ground with arms overhead is such a simple way to stretch your chest

• Foam Rolling the Thoracic Spine will help to reform your spine [wolff’s law] and improve your posture and thoracic extension.

• The Lat Prayer Stretch will loosen up your lats and your upper back.

• The Table Top Stretch will loosen up your biceps, forearms, and shoulders.

Strengthening

Now that we have more space in the shoulder joint, we need to strengthen this new range of motion to make our mobility gains permanent.

The two movement patterns we must strengthen to support our shoulders are thoracic extension and external rotation. These movements will provide stability and balance to the shoulder.

Here are 5 exercises to strengthen your shoulder joint:

1. Prone Raises 10 reps (infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, mid traps, lower traps)

   1. T-Raises

   2. External rotations

   3. 90 degree raises

   4. Reverse snow angels https://youtu.be/_pjMki88Qd8)

2. Trap 3 Raise (lower traps)

3. Chest Supported Row (traps, rhomboids)

4. Banded External Rotation (infraspinatus, teres minor, serratus anterior) https://youtu.be/0A51P5B36f8

5. Cable Facepull (infraspinatus, teres minor, rear deltoid)

Here is the Ultimate Healthy Shoulder Exercise Routine:

Hang from a bar with palms facing forward for 2 minutes daily

1. 3 times per week

   1. Prone Raises 2 rounds of 10 reps

   2. Chest supported row 3 sets 10 reps

   3. Cable face pulls 3 sets 20 reps

What’s best for your individual situation might be different. Use your own discretion and try all the exercises to learn what works best for you. If you’d like a customized plan for you, schedule a consultation with me today.

Stubborn Pain

Shoulder Pain not going away

Once you’ve started training the right way, inflammation can cause pain to persist, so be patient and continue your exercises.

To permanently fix your shoulders, you must address the cause. Find ways to maintain good posture throughout the day and take frequent breaks from computer work.

When performing upper body exercises, focus on thoracic extension and external rotation. Record yourself and review your lifting technique, or seek a qualified trainer.

The Problem with Doctors

When I was 21 years old a doctor diagnosed me with degenerative disc disease. He said I’d never run, jump, or lift weights for the rest of my life. I could have accepted his diagnosis, but it turns out he was wrong.

When we accept a diagnosis, we accept powerlessness. The more you take ownership for your injury, the more powerful you become. At the end of the day, you’re the only person who can fix your shoulder pain. The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton is a great book if you’d like to read more about this.

Hope this helps! - Tom