So after last night’s MMA class there was alot of fighters who said they were having shoulder aches, pains or injuries. So I am posting this article to show why it is essential for Athletes to have healthy shoulders, if we look at the athletic population, cross fitters, hockey players and other racquet sports such as squash, tennis, golf and cricket, athletes who competes in throwing events such as javelin and discus or compete in swimming, power lifter or a fighter from a variety of disciplines MMA, boxing, judo, Maui-Thai, wrestling, Brazilian jujitsu, or even traditional martial arts disciplines whatever your sport, level and ability you want to be able to develop explosive power from the shoulder joint to do this you need to have good shoulder stability and strength. This does not mean that you need to work on your phasic muscles the Deltoids and Pectoral Muscles by lifting heavy dumbbells and barbells doing shoulder pressing and bench pressing movements as this will not specifically target the tonic muscles the stabilisers of the shoulder if anything lifting heavy will hinder and weaken the shoulder joint resulting in a loss of strength and power when performing and when continuously training hard and repetition and repetition your shoulders take a lot of strain If we look at the movement of the Shoulder during these activities to see what actually happens when continuously repeating these movements, scapular stabilisers include a number of different muscles. To start with we have the rhomboid major and minor, upper and lower trapezius which rotate and position the head of the humerus. We have got the levator scapulae originating on the scalp and inserting in to the cervical vertebra disk 1,2, and 3. And finally serratus anterior of the ribcage, below pec minor and it protracts the shoulders, pushing it forward if we take this into a practical movement for example if you throw a ball the serratus anterior brings the shoulder forward, in our rack or catch position during a power clean, and get a great amount of muscle activation in the serratus anterior a phasic muscle what means it lengthens and weakens causing surrounding tonic muscles to pick up its slack and they are the pec minor, levator scapula and upper trapezius. Tonic means the muscles have shortened and tightened to stabilise to protect a muscle when lengthening and weakening And when these athletes who compete if we look at the posture during there sport alot of times they are drawn forward into anterior flexion a rolled shoulder posture, this is a good indicator that they probably have some tonic and phasic muscle action happening. In order to get the most of our specializations we have to create a good upper body structural balance, and posture, improving flexibility on short and tight phasic muscles and strengthening stabilizer muscles that are long and weak before training in strength and power we need to correct or activate muscle balance. If we take a closer look at the shoulder girdle and look into the rotator cuff the subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor these muscles are commonly injured, torn or impinged due to it being a tonic muscle, when there is trauma or injury to the shoulder girdle, its faulty state is short and tight, pulling the shoulder down and tipping the shoulder forward. Again giving us that “athletic rounded shoulder syndrome” a posture that is not so athletic. Shanging our shoulder posture, changes our trunk and low back alignment as well, leading to excess kyphotic thoracic spine and excessive lordosis through the lumbar. A practical application of this not so ideal body posture is exacerbated in our deadlifts. When an athlete hinges with poor posture, they are haning on to the weight with just the hamstrings, which can be problematic leading to facet joint problems. Pec minor is our workaholic muscle its always on, never resting we got to rest it from once in a while and strengthen up the tonic shoulder muscles and get back to normal posture and movement. Alot of time with trigger point work on both deltiods and pec, neglecting the posterior and inferior aspects of the shoulder. By getting under those big prime movers and hitting some of our shoulder extensors to prevent injury and perform better you need to strengthen up your tonic muscles of the shoulder performing external rotational movements and trap 3 exercises when strengthening up these muscles you will see a tremendous increase in our overhead mobility as well as our extension range of motion. By reducing tone in these posterior muscles and enhancing nerve supply and synapatic potential this transfers over into improved shoulder stability enhancing your compound lifts and all primary movements for increasing power and strength for athletic performance. For more information on how to prevent injury, get rehab, improve posture, strength and performance or how to correctly perform these exercises direct message me or call for booking a personal training consultation or massage treatment working on your soft tissue to get out any knots, aches, pains and tension call me on 07713432333 Thanks Brendan Cherry
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:24:11 +0000
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