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Things you can do to fix shoulder pain

Steve Wells, AT, CPT, CSCS
Midland Fitness
Steve
Staff Photo |

Don’t be so pushy. …

Look at how many push exercises you do compared to pull exercises. I bet you do a lot more pushes. In life, most things we do are in front of us and down. This makes us slump forward. This creates short pec and pec minor muscles, which pull your shoulder blades forward and out of alignment. Too much bench pressing, overhead pressing, planks and yoga all create short ‘front-muscles’ and weak, unstable back muscles. Counteract this by doing three pull moves for every push move. For you yogis, do as many tables as you do up and down dogs. You muscle-heads would avoid shoulder issues just by applying the 3-1 pull-push ratio.

The Fetal Position…



Stress, fear, anger and fatigue all put us into the fetal position. I think that we are just reverting to the fetal position since the vast majority of us were once a fetus. It is possible however that some of us could be quadrupeds — just observe some of the attendees at Mountain Fair next time. Anyway, this position is shoulders forward and head down and too much of this position in gravity gives us symptoms. Pay attention to your physical stress response.

Take a deep breath. …



Taking a deep breath does a lot of good (stress reduction, posture re-set, oxygen, etc.). When you take a deep breath, you pull your shoulders down and back while you elongate your spine. Try to react to stress with a deep breath instead of bad behavior.

Get your shoulders out of your ears. …

Pay attention to your posture throughout the day. Are your shoulders elevated? Are you slumping at the desk, driving your shoulder blades up by supporting your weight with your elbows? Better yet, are you driving with your left arm extended in front of you? It makes it easier to text while driving but this posture is killing your shoulders.

Pull your head back. …

Your head is heavy. Mine is even heavier and more dense than average. Balancing the noggin all day creates strain on the muscles of the shoulder complex. Keeping your head neutral reduces fatigue. If you suffer from tension headaches, pain between the shoulder blades, and numbness in the hands, pull your shoulders down and back and keep your head straight. Perform exercises that support this function.


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