In my time as a Physical Therapist and a Strength Coach, shoulder problems have been a prevalent issue for many people.
In this article, I will not show you how to fix a shoulder issue (If you would like this content, please find an upcoming seminar in your area here!). BUT I will explain WHY your shoulder might be hurting and how it likely has nothing to do with exercising….
PAUSE
I know what you are thinking…
“Dr. Matt, when my shoulder first started hurting, it was in the gym, so working out must have caused the problem, right?”
Probably NOT. Let me explain.
As you can see, your shoulder is an extremely complex area. There are a lot of tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, cartilage, and surfaces that are involved. All of this must work together and adequately EVERY SINGLE TIME THAT YOU RAISE YOUR ARM. If something is not working right, gets pinched, or is out of alignment, you can get pain… this builds up over the years and not days… and …….
THE #1 THING THAT IS COMMON TO MOST OF MY SHOULDER PAIN PATIENTS IS POSTURE!
We will be going deep into posture in the future, and those of you who have heard me speak in any seminar that I have held in San Diego, you already know that my view on posture is that there is nothing wrong with the posture on the above left, however, if you have shoulder pain, might need to be more mindful about posture.
The reason why certain postures might be bad for your shoulder is that your shoulder joint does not have adequate room to move when you have a forward head and rounded shoulder.
Below I have an image of me trying to raise my arms overhead. Notice the posture on the left (“good”) and on the right (“bad”).
See how in the above picture, I am not able to raise my arms very high? This is because my rounded shoulders put the entire joint in a sub-optimal position.
Here is another image with a “poor posture” and what can happen on the inside of your shoulder.
As you have less space in your shoulder joint, things can get pinched and can cause shoulder pain. Again, this happens over the years of a certain posturing, not necessarily overnight.
To learn more about shoulder pain and dysfunction, please attend my seminar on January 25th at Evolve Fit Studio in Scripps Ranch.
