Shoulder
Exercises

Same but Different / It's all about feelings! . No, I'm not talking about your daddy issues kind of feelings. I mean, where do you feel it?! . Brugger's Reli...
Layers / If we ignore the underlying cause of an issue and jump right to big sexy exercises, we could possibly be layering strength on top of a dysfunction. ...
The cue of "pinch your shoulders down and back" is decent for addressing common postural faults.. but not an ending point if there's also scapular tilting. ....
Mobile Shoulders start with a stable shoulder blade. . Your entire arm is only attached to the rest of your body by one bone-to-bone joint (clavicle to sternum). The rest of the attachment is all muscle - so we need to make sure it is capable of handling any load you throw at it (or with it!)
Can you fit an entire small hand in between your shoulder blade and rib cage? This exercise will be sure to help!
Most shoulder impingement cases are due to Biceps Tendonitis/tendonosis, which causes pain and clicking in the front of your shoulder. This pain is especially bad when doing overhead movements like swimming or CrossFit/lifting exercises. To address this; we need to eccentrically unload that biceps tissue in order to continue through normal ranges of motion but WITHOUT pain!
Get those shoulder blades down and back! It's important with these Y's and T's that you are NOT feeling like you're shrugging your shoulder up to your ear. The muscles that we're focusing on should be retracting and depressing that scapula. Record yourself or have someone watch to make sure you're doing it properly!
 

Whether you have shoulder impingement, biceps tendonitis, torn rotator cuff, bursitis, or just general shoulder pain - these exercises will help.


You’ve heard me chat about this before, but let me say it again for the people in the back..
Just because you can get to a certain range of motion does NOT mean that something must be tight.
So often with overhead movements, such as the overhead squat shown here, we fear falling backward so much (neurologically) that we bias our anterior (mechanically.)

The AC Joint doesn't move much. Mostly, it helps bear loads for other joints to make bigger movement. AKA; it needs to be very stable.
Rehab programming should model this. Building stability throughout the area. As one of my dope patients says "all muscles are sexy" even small stabilizers!
Shown here:
- Short Arm Eccentric Internal and External Rotation
- Long Arm Eccentric and Concentric Control - focus on smoooooothness
- Long Arm Eccentric and Concentric Control with Light Load and Change of Plane
- Oscillations with all ROMs of rotation and Change of Planes

This quick little variant of a swimmer’s hover is slick for getting folks to feel it on their focus side.Plus, we can add a little RAIL/PAIL intent with the external rotation range of motion here.

You can't shoot a cannon from a canoe. In order for your Glenohumeral Joint (Ball and Socket) to be as mobile as possible or necessary, you need to have a stable foundation to propel it from. These isometric or dynamic hovers are not only a great movement intervention, but also a fantastic way to assess how well someone is able to CONTROL their range of motion.

US Open / Motor Control for Golfers.. and errrrrrybody else too! . This is a quick drill that I've always done before a round or hitting the range to 'prime'...
Of the billions of scapular exercises, this is one that takes very little (zero) equipment and when done with QUALITY movement can cue for much better tilting of the shoulder blade through overhead movements. . Watch the video as you do this one.
Brugger's Relief Position is something that EVERYONE who sits at a desk too long can utilize. By retracting and depressing your scapulae, you put your shoulder at a more advantageous position to move better! Oh, and no more sore achy upper traps too! Grab a band and put it on your desk.