Beat shoulder pain and learn about shoulder exercises that are commonly used by Lift Clinic’s team of Vancouver physio, chiro, RMT and strength coaches!
This post will focus on shoulder exercises used that are recommended by physiotherapists when there is pain in overhead movements. Before you read on, check out our previous post to learn more about how we assess and treat overhead shoulder movements.
This post is a continuation of our blog series on our full body assessment. If you haven’t already, visit our blog page to learn more about how we assess and treat other movements in the body.
For any given movement pattern, our treatment approach follows 4 primary steps:
- Assessment
Techniques used to test ranges of motion and find the root causes of limitations
- Reset
Hands on treatment techniques used to improve & restore limited range of motion
- Reinforce
Exercises or self treatments that help maintain the gains made from the reset techniques.
- Reload
Exercises that develop strength, resilience, and coordination for the desired movement pattern.
6 shoulder exercises to improve overhead strength and mobility:
1) Serratus Wall Slides
This shoulder exercise trains upward rotation of the scapula (shoulder blade) which is needed in an overhead position. To do this exercise, think about rounding your upper back and reaching your shoulder blades around your body while sliding your hands up the wall.
2) Banded Upward Rotation
Adding a band to this shoulder exercise can help activate and strengthen the serratus anterior muscle, which is one of the muscles responsible for upward rotation of the shoulder blade.
3) Foam Roller Thoracic Extension
This exercise helps to open up the thoracic spine (upper back) and free up upper back extension (backwards bend).
4) Pike Arches
These two yoga poses promote extension in the upper back. The downward dog also acts as a shoulder exercise to strengthen the arms and scapula in an overhead position.
5) Thoracic Spine Windmill
This exercise helps to mobilize the thoracic spine and strengthens the muscles responsible for thoracic rotation and extension. Both these movements are important when reaching your arms over your head.
6) Thoracic Bench Extension
This is another exercise to free up extension in the upper back with the arms in an overhead position.
What's next?
Reinforcing shoulder exercises are a great way to maintain your mobility and strength gains for the arms over head movement. The next step is to progress to more difficult reloading exercises so you can take your shoulder health and performance to the next level.
Stay tuned for the next post in the series: Arms Over Head Reload
