Lessons from the classroom:

An oldie but a goodie.

The Mistake:
Most novices complete a pulling exercise just like the image on the left (elbow pulled right back with the head of the humerus aka the shoulder, driving forward). Often, but not always, these folks will develop issues at the shoulder as a result of this continued forward driving pressure of the humeral head up against the anterior aspect of the shoulder joint.

The Consequence:
The other factor to consider with this type of improper technique is that these individuals are not using the correct Scapula Humeral Rhythm strategy. More simply put the muscles that are pulling the humerus back tend to be doing all the work, whilst the muscles that are responsible for pulling the scapula’s back are taking little siesta’s out back.

If this pulling pattern becomes ingrained athletes and clients can develop significant trigger points or over use type injuries in their scapula humeral muscles (Teres major, Teres minor, Infraspinatus etc.). Poorly controlled movement strategies tend to lead to injuries later down the line.

The Fix
So how do you correct this if you or your clients are doing it?
If it is simply a movement issue (which means they can do it, they just don’t know how).

Teach them too use the Scapular adductor muscles (Rhomboid, Traps) and how to integrate thoracic extension into the pull.

There should be a full squeeze between the shoulder blades and the elbow shouldn’t be able to go further back after cueing.
The simplest way of getting this result is to tell them
“Puff your chest up & squeeze between your shoulder blades “

I know seems so simple!

The result should be
1. Thoracic extension
2. Elbow not as far back as before and
3. Head of the humerus nicely positioned in the Glenoid, with the head of the humerus no longer driving forward. (Pic on the right)

Remember movement is medicine it just needs to be done correctly 😉
#exercise #shoulder #technique #pulling exercises #movement