Top 6 Exercises for Managing Shoulder Injuries

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What to Do for an Injured Shoulder

After 6 years of coaching at the highest levels across multiple disciplines, the most common issues I see in my sports therapy clinic have to do with the shoulder. Statistics show us that shoulders are the most commonly injured area in many sports including CrossFit, weightlifting and rugby.

I give my athletes, from beginners to Olympians, 6 common exercises to help them prevent nagging injuries around life and training. Most of these exercises look at one of these key principles:

Strengthening the Lower Traps

Often neck and shoulder pain comes from an imbalance between upper and lower trapezius The lower trapezius should be the primary agonist once the arm is raised above 60° but is often neglected in favor of the upper traps.

Building the Infraspinatus

This muscle should be responsible for the first stage of raising the arm, but in athletes with poor mobility it is often trapped, and doesn’t properly generate force when lifting the arm overhead. This is the muscle that is often ‘pinched’ in the shoulders due to being weak and having an overzealous upper trap. Simply strengthening it can help avoid trapped nerves and numbing sensations down the arm.

“Functional redundancy” of the upper traps without weakening them

”Overactive” upper traps can cause all sorts of issues, pathologically as well as in terms of performance, even leading to increased concussion risks and migraines. Effective training of deep cervical tissues can help prevent and fix this.

1) Supinated Grip Cable Machine Rows

This is a great exercise for focussing on shoulder blade retraction under constant load and is easier to mitigate for grip strength than a chin up (which are also excellent)

Check out this demo video of IRONMAN athlete Kloe Gibson as we incorporated the exercise into her program to help with postural efficiency for her sport.

• Palms facing upwards.
• Lean forward to allow for shoulder blades to slide forward, pull them down and back as you row. Push your elbows backwards like you’re ‘trying to unhook your bra’, for those of us that know about such things.

2) Modified Cobra Pose / Diamond Push Ups

An interesting study looking at the electrical muscular stimulation of the lower trapezius found that these positions were some of the best body weight only movements to do so.

• Focus on a squeeze in between the bottom of your shoulder blades and allowing them to move as you press.
• Holding hands further back on either exercise will help here.
• Try holding a cobra pose with your hands by your side, palms facing upwards for time as well.

3) Dead Hangs

Dead hangs allow for space in joints at the shoulder girdle. There is some reasonable research that links benefits experienced by our monkey ancestors and a relief in pain from modern human lives.

For an extra bit of fun try out a gibbon grip dead hang by turning your wrists out so your palms face backwards.

• Play around with pulling into your lats, mid back and shoulders while you perform these.
• Use straps if you need to hang for longer.

4) Low ROM Lateral Raises

Keeping the range of motion limited on these (around 60°) will help in building the infraspinatus, preventing the levator scapula from pulling against the shoulder blade as much.

• The first 60° of raising the arm should be primarily performed by the infraspinatus
• Turn pinkie fingers up to the ceiling to help and keep tension off traps and in the deltoids and rotator cuff

5) Lu Raises

These are an extension of the lateral raises and the shoulder should be trained through a full ROM in general. If they’re good enough for the Chinese Olympic lifting team they should work wonders for you, provided you start light and focus on good scapula movement.

• Focus on keeping a neutral rib cage by bracing into core, think about keeping your sternum and pelvis in the same place throughout.

6) Neck Flexion and Extension

Going very light with these has been shown to cause what’s known as functional redundancy of the upper traps. This means that instead of using your traps to turn your head (when they should just be for lifting your shoulder blade and hyper extending your neck) the deeper muscles of your neck will do it, allowing for proper positioning and usage of the other muscles in your neck and shoulder.

• The same focus should be made in keeping the rib cage and shoulders still
  Move through a range of motion that is comfortable to you with a very light weight (see my article about neck training for further details).
• You could also try doing these while biting onto a towel which can help in activating the scalene muscles in the neck. This can cause what is called reciprocal inhibition of the muscles at the back of the neck (like how your triceps relax as you perform a bicep curl).

This list is certainly not exhaustive and you should seek medical advice if you’re struggling with chronic pain. Feel free to check out my neck training program if you’re having issues around your neck or shoulders. It can be dropped into most training regimes and is an extremely cost effective way of helping your ailments.

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3 Killer Kettlebell Mobility Exercises for Your Shoulders

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Let’s face it: sometimes your shoulders feel rickety even on good days. But overhead mobility and good upper body articulation is so important for everyday life — it pays major dividends to dedicate some time to working on your shoulder strength through all ranges of motion.

We love to see healthy, pain-free shoulder joints here at TH. Check out this blog for three kettlebell shoulder exercises to work into your next training session.

Time to Work on That Sticky Shoulder Mobility

Low back pain might be the most prevalent injury among those who train, but shoulder issues are arguably a close second.

Whether it’s an impingement that limits range of motion, hypermobility that makes dislocation more likely, or the dreaded rotator cuff tear that keeps orthopedic surgeons busy to the tune of 250,000 repair procedures each year, shoulder problems are pervasive.

This means that regular shoulder mobility work is a must. But sometimes people are coming at the problem with the goal of removing restrictions and adding greater range, when in fact what’s lacking is stability and strength.

Even when people realize this, their attempted solutions fall short.

Endless variations of “rotator cuff exercises” – see five kinds of shoulder flys, endless scarecrows, and three-pound Granny weights – are the go-to, and yet often produce little more than local soreness.

While a few of these movements have a place you have to understand that there are other “big rock” exercises that do much more to stabilize and strengthen the muscles and other tissues of the shoulder and scapula area.

Three Shoulder-Focused Kettlebell Exercises

Here are three kettlebell exercises focused on shoulders to add to your training repertoire.

1. Single Arm KB Shoulder Press

OK, you could derive a lot of benefits from shoulder pressing a barbell with both hands.

But only using one arm adds an additional stability component and will help you avoid “cheating” with your stronger side while hiding the deficiency of the weaker one.

Making the shoulder press unilateral will also ask more of the inactive side, as it has to counterbalance the force you’re generating with the active arm.

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Pick up a kettlebell in one hand and hold it to your collarbone, with your palm facing your chest.
• Bracing your abs and squeezing your glutes, straighten your arm to press the kettlebell overhead.
• Lower the weight down under control, and use the stretch reflex to initiate the next rep.
• Complete the desired number of reps, then switch sides.
  

Form tip: Keep your active wrist straight, and create stabilizing tension by balling the hand of the non-active arm into a fist. Try to keep the path of the kettlebell straight up and down.

2. Overhead Carry to Suitcase Carry

Like the single-arm kettlebell press, you could use a dumbbell for both of these carry variations and/or a short bar for the suitcase one.

However the compact design of the kettlebell and concentration of mass in a smaller area makes it easier to obtain and preserve the proper alignment, particularly with the overhead component in which your shoulder is most vulnerable.

• Repeat the first three steps of the single-arm kettlebell press.
• Walk down your driveway, across your garage (check overhead clearance first!), or between two cones.
• Keep going until you start to feel slight fatigue in your arm, shoulder, or thoracic spine, then slowly lower the weight until it’s down by your side.
• Continue walking until you again fatigue a little, then switch arms and start over in the overhead position, before transitioning to the suitcase carry.
  

Form tip: When the weight is overhead, imagine a straight line running through your hip, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Start with a lighter weight that you think you can handle. When transitioning to the suitcase carry, put the weight further back than you might initially, so your active hand is between your side and back pockets.

3. Turkish Get-Up

Of all the exercises you can do to sort out your dodgy shoulders, the get-up arguably reigns supreme. Why?

Because it requires both a horizontal (when you’re lying on the floor) and overhead press position and tests the integrity of your shoulder complex while static and in motion. Plus, unlike many movements, the get-up involves controlling the path of a kettlebell across the transverse plane, which is why folks like the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) prescribe it for golfers.

Not to mention that the off-arm has to provide stabilization through the shoulder as you maneuver your body from lying, to a lunge, to a standing position, and then back down. As the get-up is a highly technical exercise, you can follow the directions below and check out the video, but you’ll be best off seeking a coach to make sure you’re getting the finer points down.

• Lie on your back with your left leg straight and left knee bent, with your right leg flat on the floor. Then position a kettlebell next to your left shoulder and grip the handle with your left hand.
• While still gripping the kettlebell with your left hand, use your right hand to help move it toward the center of your body and then extend your left elbow.
• As soon as your arm is locked out, allow your left shoulder to move to the back of the socket. Your left hand and elbow should be in a straight line over your left shoulder. Try to maintain this alignment throughout the rest of the exercise.
• Roll onto your right elbow, keeping your gaze fixed on the kettlebell.
• With your right arm staying straight, push off the ground with your right leg and extend your right elbow with the right palm flat on the ground and positioned in a straight line down from the other arm, which is still gripping the kettlebell overhead.
• Squeeze your butt muscles and drive off the ground with your right foot as you extend your hips toward the ceiling.
• Use your right arm and leg to support you as you pull your left leg under your hips. Then place your right knee underneath your torso, making sure that you keep looking up at the kettlebell.
• Move your bodyweight toward your right side and get your torso upright. As soon as your right hand comes off the ground, pull your shoulder back and turn your arm outward. You should be in a lunge position.
• Use your left leg to push yourself up out of the bottom position of the lunge with your torso remaining upright and weight centered over your hips.
• Bring your right foot forward so it meets the left, and stand up with your feet facing forward and shoulder width apart. Your left arm should be fully extended overhead and your right arm straight out in front of you.
• Reverse the pattern to return to the floor.

Form tip: Don’t ever do an AMRAP-style workout with get-ups, but rather focus on quality and take your time between reps. In some sessions, reduce the weight (again, this should be lighter than you think you can lift to begin with until you nail the correct technique) and pick one segment of the get-up to pause at during each rep (e.g. the lunge with arm overhead, or rolling onto the elbow).

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Getting bigger, wider delts that pop off your shoulders requires more than just attacking your shoulder workouts — you gotta do them with purpose. Understanding positioning, muscle relationships, and the correct equipment to use is paramount to building the delts of your dreams.

Josh Gangaware is a personal trainer based in Boca Raton, Florida. When Josh isn’t training clients or working out himself, he’s mentoring other coaches, chasing around his two young kids, watching sports, or head-banging to heavy metal. Josh focuses on muscle-building for adults, athletic development for young athletes, and post-rehab training.

In this blog, Josh walks you through the key principles of building muscles and three helpful tips to work your shoulders both smarter and harder.

The Key Principles of Building Muscle

Any athlete, bodybuilder, or fitness enthusiast will tell you one of the most impressive things on a body is big, juicy shoulders.

Having shoulders that pop off the body instead of falling straight down from the shoulder joint is a mark of the sustained hard work and focus required to build a high-functioning upper body.

While some people are genetically gifted with the ability to build impressive delts, most of us need a more direct and focused approach. We can’t just look at a pair of dumbbells and think of doing side-laterals, we need to actually attack the shoulders in a very precise manner.

When it comes to building muscle, there are a few principles we must abide by:

1. We need high-functioning joints. In this case, we need shoulder joints (and surrounding areas, i.e. rib cage and shoulder blades) that are mobile AND stable enough to allow the muscle to produce maximum amounts of force. Warm-ups that are specific to you and your limitations are so important.

2. Putting ourselves in the correct position/posture can make or break your execution and, as a consequence, your results.

3. Exercise selection needs to be appropriate. To build muscle, we need to either load the muscle heavy or put it in lengthened positions to maximize tension across the muscle.

4. Do your isolations right. To maximize tension across the muscle, we can’t have extraneous body parts moving around wildly. One end of the muscle (the origin) needs to be locked into place while the other end (the insertion) moves about the full range of motion of the muscle.

My main points for this article can also be applied to other muscle groups, but today I’ll be focusing specifically on the shoulders.

Tip #1: Find the Scapular Plane

Movement is generally categorized in three planes: frontal (front-to-back), sagittal (side-to-side), and transverse (rotational). Most exercises are performed in one or more of these patterns.

To get the most of the shoulders, we need to find a fourth plane: the scapular plane. This angle is where your shoulder blades are in a neutral position and have the freedom to move around the rib cage.

The scapular plane lies at about 30-45 degrees in front of the midline of your body. If you hold your arm(s) straight out about half-way between right in front of you and out to the side, that is about 30-45 degrees. The exact angle will depend on your own body.

An easy test to find the scapular plane is to move your arm out at 90 degrees (like you would normally be doing an overhead press), move the upper arm forward slightly, and reach overhead. Repeat this step a few times and find the one that feels best reaching overhead. If you get it right, you shouldn’t feel any restriction from the humerus running into the AC joint (the joint that separates that collar bone from the shoulder blade).

The angle of the upper arm at this point is where your scapular plane sits. This is where any overhead pressing or lateral raises take place.

For the overhead press, this allows the front delt to be the primary mover and helps stave off impingement-type pains. Similarly, for the lateral raise, this position allows the middle delt to drive the motion.

Find the scapular plane and you’ll unlock better performance and have less trouble with injuries.

Tip #2: Understand the Relationship Between Muscle Tension and Muscle Length

Whenever a joint goes through a range of motion, our muscles work in a spectrum of lengthened to mid-range to shortened positions. We may not always think of it in this way, but we inherently feel it when we lift.

Throughout this arc, muscles have varying degrees of force they’re able to produce. The strongest amount of force is produced in the mid-range while weaker forces are produced in the lengthened and shortened positions.

Working within each range can be beneficial to develop specific adaptations.

Shortened Range:
The shortened range generally produces more blood pooling (aka “the pump”) and metabolite accumulation. Getting into a position to work the shortened range usually requires stability at the joint.

Mid-Range:
Most of the exercises we perform lie in the mid-range. This is where our muscles are the strongest. The ability to load a muscle is probably the most important factor in growing it, and the mid-range allows us to drive the greatest amount of load through the muscle.

Lengthened Range:
This is the more stretched position of the muscle. Even though the muscle isn’t super strong in this range, it still creates a significant amount of tension across the muscle, which we can use to our advantage.

So why not just live in the mid-range, since it can produce the greatest amount of force?

Theoretically, it makes sense – if the only thing we are loading is the muscle. However, we need to remember that loading with (relatively) heavy weight, our joints and connective tissues are also taking some brunt of the force.

Working the mid-range is great and necessary for growth, but we need a bit of variability in how we attack muscles to avoid injury.

This is where getting into lengthened positions is a hidden gem for building muscle. Lengthened positions still allow you to keep crazy tension on the muscle, but because it isn’t as strong in that range, you don’t have to load it as much, sparing your joints (and still working the muscle).

To stay in the lifting game for the long-haul, our bodies like variability of movement. Working in some shortened and lengthened range opens a broader scale of movement, building mobility and stability.

Above any other factor, being consistent with training for long periods of time will net the greatest results. Taking measures to be able to do so is pretty darn important.

This concept becomes extremely valuable when we look at the appropriate tools to use for building muscle.

Tip #3: Choose the Correct Exercise Equipment

When it comes to building muscle, not every piece of equipment is ideal for the job. Leveraging isolation and external stability is going to give you the greatest opportunity at growing muscle. So, take advantage of the right equipment. You also need to understand where each implement can provide the greatest stimulus in a given range.

Instead of breaking down every implement, I’ll break it up into free weights, cables, and machines.

Free Weights

Looking at the shoulders specifically, free weights can be a great choice for hitting the mid-range on pressing movements. When it comes to exercises like lateral raises, we’re using more of a shortened range. The arc of movement of the lateral raise means the farther away the arm travels from the body, the greater the resistance is acting on the muscle. So we are not only changing positions of the limb to increase difficulty, but also how the load is acting on the muscle.

Conversely, on the overhead press, the load isn’t changing in terms of moving from the midline of the body (the weight is always being resisted vertically). Only the length of the limb is changing. Remember, free wights act against gravity, which is only going to act on them straight up and down.

On another note, free weights do require a good amount of internal stability and skill to perform the exercises correctly with enough load to generate a muscle-building stimulus. While it’s always great to work on the skill of movement, free weights may not be the best choice for building muscle – at least until you’re pretty advanced.

Cables

Unlike free weights that have variable resistance based on position, cables offer constant levels of resistance through a range of motion. This is great for developing the shoulders because you can make small adjustments to your body or cable position to bias shortened, mid-range, or lengthened ranges.

Performing a lateral raise (making sure your arm moves along the scapular plane) with the cable in the bottom position will hit more of the mid-range of the middle delt. If you slide the cable up to thigh-height and perform the same movement, you’ll focus on more of the lengthened range.

Machines

The major benefits of machines come from the external stability they provide, as well as the consistent path of motion.

Building muscle requires pushing toward failure of the muscle itself. With free weights there’s often some kind of limiting factor – usually your stabilizers or core. When you’re locked into a machine, you can push the muscle closer to failure.

Consistency of reps is also important, not just from a muscle building perspective, but also in terms of developing skill in the movement. The fixed path of the machine allows repeated reps in the same path without risking the rest of your body fatiguing.

The main drawback of machines is finding the correct positions, or even manipulations, to make them fit each individual body.

BONUS: Setting Up a Bodybuilding Program

If you’re working through a more bodybuilding style of programming, the easiest programming set up would look something like this:

• Shortened Range Movement: lighter weights/higher reps
• Mid-Range Skill: Based Movement: 5-10 reps with free weights
• Mid-Range Machine: Based Movement: 6-12 reps, leaving 1 in the tank
• Lengthened Range Movement: 8-12 reps, close to failure

For other styles of programming, try to make sure you’re working in shortened and lengthened range exercises regularly to get the most out of your training!

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Andrew Watsford is a strongman competitor, coach, and co-owner of DNA Strength and Performance in Australia. He is an ASCA level 1, World Rugby advanced S&C coach, and he holds Rugby Australia level 1 coaching accreditation. In this piece, he’ll teach you to master pressing movements in any commercial gym (no special equipment needed) and achieve strongman shoulder status.

Strongman Competition Basics

The overhead press is a staple in any strongman competition. It can come in many shapes and sizes, from max weight to max reps in a specified timeframe.

Its variations include the log press, viking press, axle clean and press, circus dumbbells, kegs, sandbags, stones and even a heavy rectangle block, which is called the block press. (Strongman athletes aren’t known for clever names.)

I want to focus on two of the main strongman overhead press events: the circus dumbbell press and the viking press. I’ll coach you through these lifts and how to modify your gym equipment if you don’t have access to strongman equipment.

Circus Dumbbell Press

First, let’s focus on the circus dumbbell press. If you don’t have access to conventional circus dumbbells, you can use regular dumbbells from the rack and foam drop blocks. Using Fat Gripz will make the lift feel similar to using actual circus dumbbells.

This movement can be broken down into three different parts.

First is the clean to the shoulder. Grab the dumbbell with either one or both hands (if you need the extra stability). Keep your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly further out for more stability.

Once you have yourself steady, take a breath to brace your core, then press the dumbbell overhead and lock out your elbow. As the weight of the dumbbell goes up, you will need to adopt a push press or split jerk stance. I would recommend a push press unless you have a solid Olympic lifting background.

Viking Press

The viking press is usually a rep-based event in a given time frame, typically 60 seconds. It’s a neutral grip press, meaning your hands face inward.

It’s hard to find a gym with equipment specific to the viking press, even in strongman gyms. But fear not! You can easily mimic this movement with a power rack, two barbells and safety bars.

At your power rack, set one side of the safety pins at shoulder height and the other side at the next lowest setting. On the lower setting, sandwich the safety pin between two 5kg (10lb) plates with collars on each end. There will be a space between the two plates where the barbell sits on the safety bar. On the higher side, stand outside the power rack and load the plates for your desired weight.

From here, use the ends of the two barbells as handles. You can either strict press or push press the weight up. A “good lift” is given once the body is straight, elbows locked and head through.

Using Strongman Presses in Your Strength Training Program

Be sure to train both arms for the circus dumbbells as it’s common for one to be stronger than the other. But don’t fret – both the viking press and circus dumbbell press are amazing tools to address your imbalances. Alternatively, try swapping out your usual barbell presses for the more unique viking press.

These movements are just two of many awesome strongman events that could massively improve your strength training. Strongman work also includes a number of deadlift, pulling, and carrying events that will take your cardio to the next level.

So, don’t be scared of the strongman style! Give these lifts a try at your next training session.

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4 Uncommon Movements to Build Massive Shoulders & work on shoulder joint stability

(so you can hold up all those responsibilities)

In the physique world, big, round shoulders are necessary. You can be developed everywhere else, but if your shoulders are weak or small, the wide top of your coveted V-shape will be nonexistent. Having superiorly bulging shoulders affects your overall visual aesthetic and often requires you to size up in shirts.  

Strengthening the shoulder girdle also helps protect from injury, since the complex shoulder joint can be prone to tears and impingement. Gymnasts typically bulletproof their shoulders to support their own bodyweight in a wider range of positions, and weightlifters need both strength and mobility in their shoulders to hold crazy poundage overhead. Whatever your athletic preferences: avoid shoulder workouts to your detriment. 

We know the standard press and jerk variations – strict/military, push press, split jerk, push/power jerk. And the standard isolation work – lateral/front raises, upright rows, reverse flys. So what else can you do to mix things up and hit your shoulders from multiple angles? First, a little anatomy refresher.

What makes up the shoulder?

The shoulder is comprised of a handful of interconnected muscles and tissues that extend across the front of the body and down the back, including supporting groups like your lats, traps, rhomboids. 

These groups are responsible for every articulation of the joint up and down the chain that involves moving your arms (like reaching overhead, out to the side, and in any direction). For our purposes, we’re going to focus on the primary muscles, not the supporting ones.

Deltoids

These are the most visible muscles of the shoulder and the image that comes to mind when someone says they want “boulder shoulders”. The deltoids are a set of three: front, side, and rear. If you want to expand your shoulder meat in all directions, you want to target the delts.

Making your shoulders look like they could support a small car means you cannot neglect the rear delt, which is easy to forget about. Front delts are involved in common horizontal pushing movements like bench press, whereas rear delts are involved in less popular horizontal pulling movements like ring rows.

Rotator Cuff

Not so much a muscle group as a combination of tendons and ligaments surrounding the ball and socket of your shoulder joint. The rotator cuff is responsible for rotation and stability of the joint, meaning everything here needs to be healthy in order to build strong shoulders.

These smaller tissues can take a lot of abuse. They’re affected by muscles running down to the arms, across the front of the body to the chest/clavicle, and across the back of the body to the scapula. Remember: avoid heavy weight for rotator cuff warm-ups and be sure to focus on stabilization techniques as often as possible.

4 Movements to Mix Up Your Shoulder Training

Arnold Press

Probably the most dynamic, fun bodybuilding movement for time under tension and gassing your shoulders is the Arnold Press. Named after our favorite Governator, the rotation aspect of this press variation targets the front delts, adding a stamina element to the conventional dumbbell press.

Handstands & Handstand Pushups

Let’s be real – some of you could seriously benefit from being upside down more often. It’s good for your circulation and spacial awareness, and absolutely burns out your shoulders. Try holding a handstand against a wall for just one minute and see how fast your shoulders fatigue. Now make it harder by pressing up and down in that handstand position. (Watch videos for some coaching on this!)

If HSPU aren’t in your wheelhouse yet, start with pike pushups. Elevate your feet on a box or bench and create a “tripod” position with your hands, then lower the crown of your head toward the floor between your hands and press back up.

Face Pulls

Remember that tricky rear delt? When developed nicely it gives your shoulder a full-capped look. Banded or cable machine face pulls are just the kind of horizontal pulling movement that targets those rear delts. The key here is to aim your elbows up and out, not down and tucked. If you have trouble connecting to these bad boys, get a gym buddy to touch your rear delt so you can really feel it working. (Mind-muscle connection is a real thing!)

Reverse Grip Press

Another uncommonly used version of a strict press – reverse grip pressing can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, smith machine, even a cable machine. Flipping your grip on a press hits the front delts hard. (And upper pecs if you change the angle by lying on a flat or incline bench.) This is a real bruiser movement when done for reps to failure on a smith machine.

Bonus: Iron Cross

If you have super healthy shoulder joints and you’re feeling dangerous, try progressing to an iron cross. This is an advanced movement for aerialists, and an acrobatic gymnastics trick to stun your friends and family. Performed correctly, the iron cross challenges your entire upper trunk and core. Don’t try to jump into this one right away – it’s tough. Take some time to develop the strength and coordination so you don’t tear something.