Shoulder health with Mike Kelly

Here is a guest post from Mike Kelly, a good friend, and great physical therapist.

By: Mike Kelly

The shoulder joint is a "ball and socket" joint in which the humeral head(ball) moves upon the small glenoid surface on the scapula(socket). The large humeral head requires a significant amount of stability in this space, and the rotator cuff serves this function. The deltoid is the primary mover in many regions, but if the deltoid overpowers the rotator cuff or poor postures are used, it can alter the mechanics of this joint structure and can cause rotator cuff lesions and shoulder dysfunction.

The video describes just a few of the exercises necessary for proper rotator cuff strength. For proper shoulder health, these need to be incorporated with scapular strengthening along with other rotator cuff exercises. These are just a sampling of key exercises.

For further information, questions, or injury assessments please feel free to contact Mike Kelly, PT at DMikeKelly@gmail.com

Keep your shoulders healthy with this....

This routine is a great way to maintain overall shoulder health. Heavy weights are not needed at all, 2.5-5 lb dumbbells work just perfect. Make sure you do all of these exercises under control for best form.

Do this sequence non stop for 10 reps of each exercise.

Lateral raises ( palms up )

Lateral raises ( thumbs up )

Lateral raises ( thumbs down )

Front raises ( thumbs up )

***Cross overs ( palms facing away from you )

Military press


*** The cross overs-have your palms face away from you and your arms out in front of your hips. Then bring your arms up and over your head like you were going to do jumping jacks ( minus the jump ). Cross your arms in front of your head and then bring them back towards the hips.

Quick hitting tips.............

• Cant decide between barbell chest press or dumbbell chest press? Pick dumbbells.

• Eat breakfast if your serious about your workouts

• Great post workout shake-low fat Horizon chocolate milk, frozen mixed berries, 100% whey protein and flaxseed oil.

• Pushups should not be forgotten. Add them in at the end of your chest workouts or mix them in as a second exercise in a superset.

• Do not slam the barbell on the floor when doing deadlifts......this will shock your spine and hurt your back. Oh plus you will be annoying to the rest of the gym since you will be the loudest guy in the room.

• Mondays tend to be national bench press day..........don't be like everyone else.....do something different on Monday!

• Add in some rotator cuff work 2-3x a week to keep your shoulder healthy
  

• If you want to lift heavy find a workout partner or ask for spots if you actually want to improve your strength numbers

Observations from the gym- Common errors

If you were to roll into any gym across the nation you would surely find people doing all sorts of things wrong. The other day I took a second to observe the gym I work at and this is some of the common errors I found.

ERROR #1- Doing external rotation work ( rotator cuff ) before bench pressing

Why: Working your rotator cuff muscles is very important but just not right before you bench. You will weaken your rotator cuff and therefore lose stability in your shoulder joint when you bench which is not good. Save the external rotation work for back days.

ERROR #2- Rolling the shoulders when doing shrugs

Why: This is a very common theme you see everywhere. When you roll the shoulders you put extra stress onto the shoulder and can increase your risk of injury. Focus on bringing your traps or shoulders straight up and " touch your ears " as they say.

ERROR #3- Excessive lean forward when rowing

Why: You usually see this when someone has too much weight on the seated row with the cable machine. Generally the individual will lean forward and build some momentum and then jerk the weight back extending their low back. This will cause stress on the low back and lead to back issues. Focus on keeping your back straight like your up against a wall and then pull by engaging the mid back and lats.

Change to get change

Many of us fall into routine on a weekly basis at the gym and this lack of change ends up being our downfall. About 99% of the population does chest on Mondays and many coin the term "Bench Mondays" since you can find almost every man alive hitting the bench. For many people the first couple days of the week are their best and most intense workouts and then as Thursday, Friday and Saturday come along their workouts drop off or become non-existent.

Below are some examples of problems you might have and the solutions to change those starting today!

Problem 1- You have no core or your core is generally weak

CHANGE- Start doing your core work at the beginning of your workouts. Almost all of us end our workout will 2 minutes of core work as we are rushing out of the gym and are minds are focused on whats ahead in the day. Make core a priority and do it right when you are fresh in the beginning.

Problem 2- Your incline bench press strength is lagging behind your flat press

CHANGE- Do not always do flat press first and then follow it up with incline. By making the incline press your second exercise every workout you will always be pre-fatigued and therefore not as strong on the lift. Flip things around at start the workout with incline presses first and watch your strength shoot up. This can be done for any lagging exercise.

Problem 3- You have shoulder/rotator cuff issues

CHANGE- Start doing rotator cuff exercises 2-3 times a week for at least 1-2 months and notice the improvement that will occur. If you follow that along with taking some time away from pressing movements your shoulder health will greatly improve as will your pressing strength.

Problem 4- Your legs don't grow like your upper body

CHANGE- This is a problem for most guys and I can say that I fall under this umbrella too. We often put so much intensity into our upper body workouts and then wuss out on our lower body workouts. Next time you do legs don't quit early, don't settle for less, push yourself just as hard if not harder than you do your upper body. Doing legs is more of a mental challenge than anything so stay focused and make it happen.

Building the rotator cuff: Cuban Press

The Cuban press is an external rotation exercise to help build your rotator cuff strength up. This exercise can be done either standing or sitting. Heavy weight is not needed at all for this exercise to be effective.

Start by having your arms bent at 90 degrees, having your elbows at shoulder height, and your palms facing behind you. Lift the weight up by rotating your shoulders, so that your forearms become parallel to the floor and palms should be facing down. Keeping your arm in the same fixed position, continue to rotate your arms until your forearms are now vertical, hands in line with your ears, while still keeping a 90 degree bend in your arms. Keep your head up through the whole movement and take your time and do not rush each rep. This exercise is meant to build strength in smaller weaker muscles, weight is not important here.

If you are having a hard time understanding the form on the Cuban press try Youtube for an actual video.