How to Build Stability – Shoulders (Part 1)
A skinny body might look good in clothes, but that does not make you fit, nor strong.
A strong and lean body should be supported by a rock-solid midsection, strong hips, core, and shoulders,- all of which will help significantly reduce your risk for injury. Here are some simple pointers to a rock-solid midsection to build stability and strengthen the core. This will be a three part series on how to build stability – the shoulders, the core, the hips. Today we start with the shoulders.
photo credit – dailymail / reuters
Shoulder Stability
If you played basketball, or threw the discus in school, you would know about the rotator cuff muscles. This part is important as your hands and arms as carry the workload for your upper body, but your shoulders also bear a lot of the load. The shoulder girdle consists of the humerus (a long bone in your upper arm), scapula (your shoulder blades), and clavicle. if you have bad posture, it could affect your rotator cuff and give you back problems. It’s our natural instinct to drop the shoulders forward, when we are tired. But if you were to look at a skeleton, you’d notice that the perfect posture is where the shoulder blades stay back and down.
Most of us don’t realize how badly we hunch when we sit at the computers or just in a lazy chair watching TV. People tend to think that they themselves never slouch, but the next time you’re people-watching at the supermarket or the club, pay attention to the posture of people around you. More than 50% will be slouching. If you catch your own reflection in the mirror, you may be surprised even to see the person staring back at you, is slouching! So what’s the problem? Well apart from looking slovenly and unwell groomed, a hunch will cause more rotator cuff and back problems, which can limit your ability to carry out your daily activities and even sports.
This is how you counteract a slouch. This is not problem if you’ve always been the sort to stand up straight. It isn’t easy though for some, and you will need to make a conscious effort tell yourself, especially if you are prone to slouching, that there’s an imaginary fish hook inserted under the sternum, pulling you up. This will allow your shoulders to fall into place and help you stand taller—and look leaner, as a result. If you create a habit of bringing your shoulders down, you’ll be amazed at the results. People will find you more confident and think you’ve lost weight and grown taller because you are no longer slouched over. Perfect posture is important for remaining injury free as you take on more strenuous exercises as well.
Next up.. How to Build Stability – The Core
Here is the Complete Series on How to Build Stability:
How to Build Stability – Shoulders (Part 1)
How to Build Stability – Core (Part 2)
How to Build Stability – Hips (Part 3)
This is so true. I have a problem with my right rotator cuff due to a horseback riding injury and I always had scoliosis. I tried to do yoga and lots of gym-weights, spin class, ect, to keep the injury at bay.
Now the injury is pretty painful, I have terrible posture and I’ve stopped working out and gained weight.
Not a good combo! Will look forward to reading part 2.
Mica! My hubby suffers from that too. Too much beach volleyball in his younger days, and he still plays pretty hardcore basketball ..so, wear and tear if you know what I mean.