Please Help! I F*cked Up My Shoulders...

The shoulder is by far one of the most complex and mobile joints in the human body. This vulnerability can result in many scenarios including impingement, inflammation, instability, tearing, dislocation and even fracture. Therefore it's very important not only to build strong delts but also to take care of your shoulder health by improving stability, building up strong tendons and working against imbalances. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint but the socket of the shoulder is very shallow and smaller than the ball. Therefore the joint is inherently less stable than a true ball and deep socket such as the hip joint. If you do suffer from shoulder pain and it's not an acute injury which is caused by strong forces like shoulder dislocation, fractures or torn muscles and ligaments you should think about muscle and However we still suggest consulting your doctor in the first place and make sure you are allowed to start with recovery training. The following exercises help to strengthen, mobilize and stabilize your shoulders as well as eradicate limitations through tight muscles. Please keep in mind that you should never work into deep joint pain. So only train with the range of motion and intensity that allows you to do the exercise free of pain and never push yourself above this point. If you want to avoid injuries and pain right from the beginning we recommend our comprehensive workout and mobility courses you can find on kellymove.com. Alright the first exercise on our list is the easy bridge to side plank rotation. This exercise stabilizes your shoulder in many different positions. Especially the easy bridge part is very important because many people neglect to stabilize their shoulders in an extended position. Always make sure that you never rest passively in any of those positions. The goal is to stabilize your shoulders and make sure that your shoulder blades work actively against the force of your own body weight. Like already explained make sure to work in a comfortable range of motion and adapt the movement to your current abilities and limitations. The next exercise is also about shoulder stability in the first place but this time in an overhead position. In the pike stand you push your straight arms into the ground while lifting your body through a scapular elevation. If the pike stand is too hard and you can't stabilize yourself properly you can decrease the intensity by doing it with your feet on the ground. You are also allowed to bend your legs because the main goal is to work on your shoulder stability and not your hamstring flexibility. If you have no problems with the elevated pike stand it's possible to switch to a wall supported handstand. The next exercise is the active hang. Here you simply hang from a bar and try to depress and retract your shoulder blades. To get the most out of this movement we suggest arching your back because otherwise you won't be able to get the necessary shoulder blade retraction. Please make sure to keep your arms straight and only pull from your back. If you have massive problems with hanging in an overhead position we suggest a low bar or rings and modify the movement to a more horizontal body position. Next on our list are This exercise is a mix of shoulder mobility and strength. In comparison to the arch up or swimmer you don't extend your spine and only raise your shoulders as high as possible. Of course we know that this can be very difficult so if you don't have the necessary mobility to do it you can modify it in two ways. First do the exercise on an object so that you have more space between your arms and the ground and second extend your spine to a degree that you are able to raise your arms from the ground. Later when you get better you can decrease the spinal extension. When it comes to the arm movement make sure that you do a complete rotation with your hands so palms facing upward in the starting and end position. The next exercise are complex shoulder movements with banded resistance. Here we suggest three exercises. The first one is a PNF movement. Here you do a shoulder flexion, abduction and external rotation. Always make sure that you choose the right band resistance so that you can move your arm properly into an overhead position without overextending your spine. In the second one you do an external shoulder rotation, stabilize this position and move your arm up and down. This has the benefit that you work the external rotators of the shoulder in a very complex and comprehensive way instead of the regular one-dimensional rotator cuff training. The third one is the most complex of these band resisted movements. Here you work your shoulder in all positions and directions. Another good exercise is the face pull. Here you do an external rotation in a horizontal shoulder position. Please make sure to use the right amount of weight or resistance so that you can rotate your shoulder and open your chest as much as possible. Similar to the band resisted exercises you can improve the face pull by adding an additional movement while stabilizing the external rotated position. The next exercise is called the t-cup and is heavily focused around mobility. Imagine holding a cup of tea in front of your body with a straight and forward rotated elbow pit. Now move your hand up and rotate it outward until you are holding the cup of tea above your head. Then you move your hand down while keeping the elbow high. At the end you move your hand behind your back and try to hold it as high as possible before you go the same way back to the starting position. Depending on your coordination and mobility it might not actually be possible for you to balance a real cup on your hand without spilling any tea. However, your imagination can help you come as close as possible to the desired spill free movement. Okay, now it's time for an overseen topic. Stretching the often overused and tight muscles. One of the most neglected muscles in terms of shoulder problems is the long head of the triceps. The triceps can cause shoulder problems because the long head is attached to your shoulder blade and with that can create poor positioning of the scapula resulting in shoulder pain. To solve that you can raise one arm above your head, bend the elbow and reach down your back. Lean against the wall and use the other arm as an assistance. Now you are leaning into the wall allowing it to move your hand further down your spine. This stretch not only affects the triceps but also the lats which is the next muscle you should stretch. The lats are connected to the upper arm and play a huge role in moving your shoulder in space. If they are tight they can cause massive shoulder limitations, imbalances and pain. Besides the wall stretch you can try two other ones. First, the band resisted lat stretch. Hold a resistance band that is anchored to a puller bar, a beam or any other object. From there you lean a little bit forward allowing the band to open up your shoulders. After that you rotate your upper body to the banded side while moving it towards the ground. The second one is the same movement but here you are doing it on rings or a sling trainer and use your body weight as the resistance. If you have no bands or rings it's also possible to do a similar movement with a door frame or any other object you can hold yourself onto. Besides the stretches we suggest using a foam roller to increase lat flexibility and decrease lat tightness. In addition it's also possible to add a stretch similar to that on the wall. The last muscle on our list is the subscapularis. Here you need a stick that you place behind your bent arm. Now grab the lower part of the stick and turn your elbow to the side. After that you pull the stick slightly forward. Please make sure to be very careful with the pressure. Your shoulder is very vulnerable in this position. If you don't have a stick you can do the same stretch in a yoga pose similar to an eagle. Now you might ask yourself which of those exercises you should use, how often and for how many sets and reps you should do them. Well first of all it really depends on the problem itself. So if your main problem are your tight lats you should definitely incorporate lat stretches and work on your overhead mobility. If you have problems with stability and weak external rotators you should focus more on the band resisted movements and face pulls. If you can't locate the exact problem you can try this comprehensive sample routine. When it comes to training days you have many different options. Theoretically it's possible to do these exercises every day as long as you don't overdo it. Recovery and or preparation is not the same as strength or hypertrophy so never go all out and avoid muscular fatigue. Alright guys, we hope we could help you with your shoulder problems. If you like our videos and routines you should head over to kellymove.com and check our comprehensive workout guides. No matter if you want to improve your mobility, stay injury free, learn calisthenics skills, build more muscle or just want to improve your overall fitness, we have you covered. If you want to never miss a Kellymove video again, make sure to subscribe and activate the notifications. My name is Alex and I'll see you in the next video.