Shoulder Mobility Drills: Scapular Wall Slides vs. Doorway Slides

Written on February 4, 2011 at 9:18 am, by Eric Cressey

The other day, I received an email from a Show and Go customer who noticed that the scapular wall slide and the doorway slide were two similar, but not identical shoulder mobility drills included in the program.  He asked if I could talk a bit more about the differences between the two – and when to use both.

First, let’s have a look at the two exercises.  Here’s the scapular wall slide:

And, here’s the doorway slide:

As the voice-over on the video above notes, the scapular wall slide is an acceptable fit for just about any workout routine.  The only exceptions would be those who have upper extremity pain with overhead motions (rotator cuff tears, etc.).

However, we can utilize the doorway slide in certain folks to get to where we want to be a bit faster.  More specifically, these folks are the ones who are REALLY immobile in their upper extremity and wouldn’t even be able to get their arms back even close to the wall on the wall slides.  So, in addition to not making them feel bad about their “tight shoulders”, the doorway slide actually allows us to use the doorway as a stretching implement to get a gentle stretch across the anterior shoulder girdle (predominantly pec major and minor).  There are three very important coaching points:

1. Don’t let the head poke forward, as a forward head posture is simply a substitution for not retracting/depressing the scapulae or horizontally adducting the humerus.

2. Don’t crank too aggressively on the shoulders; it should be a subtle stretch.  And, it shouldn’t be used with those (particularly overhead throwing athletes) who already have increased external rotation and, in turn, more anterior laxity.

3. Make sure to focus on pulling the shoulder blades down and back as the elbows are lowered.  You shouldn’t have movement of the humerus without movement of the scapula.

For more shoulder mobility drills and the rationale for them, I’d encourage you to check out our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.

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High Performance Training without the Equipment: Installment 2

Written on January 4, 2011 at 11:03 am, by Eric Cressey

It goes without saying that some of the absolute posterior rotator cuff exercises are cable external rotation variations.

Unfortunately – as you may have inferred from the title of this post – not everyone has access to a cable column or functional trainer where exercises like this can be performed.  To that end, I thought I’d devote today’s post to a few exercises one can substitute to get a very similar training effect without cable access.

Option 1: Elbow-Supported DB External Rotation

This movement parallels that of the cable option, but all you need is a dumbbell and something to prop your upper arm.  The only downside is that the resistance just isn’t as “continuous” throughout the range of motion – but it’s still a good option.

Options 2 and 3: Horizontal Abduction Variations

While the recruitment patterns aren’t going to be exactly the same, it’s safe to say that you’re getting almost all the same benefits when you do horizontal abduction work as with true external rotation work (and likely a bit extra scapular stabilization benefits).  Two variations I like:

Prone Horizontal Abduction off Table

Side-Lying Horizontal Abduction (I like to load this one up more eccentrically and focus on really controlling the load on the way down)

Option 4: Side-Lying External Rotations – arm abducted 30 degrees

This movement might not be the most “specific” of all rotator cuff exercises because of the position in which it occurs, but it does give you the best posterior cuff EMG of just about any drill.  We use it a ton, especially in those who may have pain with positions requiring more shoulder elevation.

These drills are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the modifications you can use – and, indeed, what should comprise a comprehensive shoulder health program.  However, they should be enough to help you work around the lack of a cable in your resistance training arsenal.

For more information, check out our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.

Related Posts

High Performance Training without the Equipment: Installment 1
Clearing up the Rotator Cuff Controversy

17 Reasons I’m Excited for 2011

Written on January 2, 2011 at 2:41 pm, by Eric Cressey

With the new year upon us, I got to thinking about how excited I am for all that 2011 has in store for me – and thought that it’d make for a good post to kick off the year.  Here’s why I’m excited:

1. Being Married – My wife, Anna, and I got married on October 3, and it was just the tip of the iceberg in a whirlwind year (new job for her, wedding planning, new house, new puppy).  Both of us are pretty excited for a low-key 2011 where we can just hang out and enjoy one another’s company!  And, we left our honeymoon for this year (I couldn’t escape for that long during the baseball off-season), so we’re excited about that.

2. The Continued Growth of EricCressey.com – I really enjoy writing, and each year, this website grows – which means I get to share my passion and interact with some very cool people.  Here were 2011’s year-end statistics for EricCressey.com:

450,791 unique visitors
1,106,748 visits
2,901,970 pages
2,730,922 hits

Thanks to everyone who visited the site this year!

3. The book I’m reading now: The 4-Hour Body. Tim Ferriss has become a good friend, and I was fortunate enough to be one of those who received an advanced copy of The 4-Hour Body prior to publication.  With the crazy goings-on at CP as well as the holidays, I’m just now getting a chance to read through it and give it the time it deserves – and I must say that it’s fantastic.  Tim does an awesome job of providing “info-tainment;” his entertaining writing style will keep you reading, and the background research he put in to this book will guarantee that you walk away with some ideas that will immediately benefit you.

4. The book I’m reading next: The New Rules of Lifting for Abs. As with Tim’s book, I got a copy of The New Rules of Lifting for Abs in advance, but haven’t even had a chance to open it up.  As with any Cosgrove/Schuler collaboration, though, I’m sure it’ll be high quality and a huge hit.  I’m looking forward to checking it out.

5. Cutting Back on Travel – 2010 was a crazy busy year for me personally – from buying a house, to moving, to planning a wedding, to getting married, to getting a puppy.  These “firsts” wouldn’t have been tough to pull off normally, but it seemed like every time my wife and I encountered one of them, I was getting ready to hop on a plane to go do a seminar somewhere.  As such, I’ve started turning down a lot more seminar opportunities not because I don’t enjoy doing them, but simply because the travel wore me out in 2010.  I will, however, still be traveling some – but this year, it’ll be with my wife…and we’ll be traveling for fun!

6. Another Year on the Perform Better Tour – While I may be cutting back on seminar travel, I wouldn’t miss the Perform Better Summits for the world.  I’m still waiting on final confirmation of which cities I’ll get in 2011, but I can say definitively that these are some of the best continuing education opportunities in the fitness business and that I thoroughly enjoy all of them – from the information to the great people I always wind up meeting.  Hopefully, I’ll get to meet some of you in person thanks to Perform Better this year.

7. Continuing on my Postural Restoration Institute Journey – I’ve spoken a bit in the past about the Postural Restoration Institute and how it dramatically impacted the way we evaluate and program for many of our athletes and clients.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it has been some of the best continuing education money I’ve ever spent.  I’ve only gone through two of their seven courses, though, and am excited to learn more.  I’ve covered Myokinematic Restoration and Postural Respiration, and already on the agenda for 2011 is Impingement and Instability. If you’re a physical therapist, athletic trainer, or fitness professional and haven’t seen any of their stuff already, I’d highly encourage you to check it out.

8. The New Cressey Performance – I’ll have pictures of the newly-renovated Cressey Performance soon, but suffice it to say that adding 1,000 square-feet can go a very long way.  I’ve finally got my own office at the facility, which I know will make things a lot easier moving forward, but even beyond that, just getting a bit more space can really change the “flow” of the facility to make it more coaching friendly.  We see all sorts of articles and presentations on how to coach, but nobody ever considers how the set-up of your facility can make your coaching duties remarkably easier or more difficult.

On top of that, Cressey Performance is busier than ever, with double digit percentage growth again in 2010.  Thanks to everyone for your continued support!

9. Relishing my Fantasy Football Championship – In the most impressive managerial run in Cressey Performance Fantasy Football history, I crushed the competition this year.  This trophy will reside on my desk for the entire year.  Those of you who visit CP can have your picture taken with it, if you’d like.

10. Doing more charity work – I’ve helped out here and there with various charities since I moved to Boston in 2006, but in 2011, I’m excited to do much more – and I’m in a position to do more now, too.  Nowadays, I can use my exposure and expertise a lot more to help – and thanks to my work with Kevin Youkilis, I can work directly with his great charity, Youk’s Hits for Kids.

Along those lines, those of you in New England might be interested to check out his February 3 event at the State Room in Boston.  The CP staff will be there along with a bunch of pro athletes, Tony Gentilcore, actors, Tony Gentilcore, musicians, Tony Gentilcore, comedians, and Tony Gentilcore.  For more information, check out YouksKids.org.

11. The New Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar – Joe Heiler has done a great job the past few years in bringing in great minds to contribute to his Sports Rehab to Sports Performance teleseminar series – and this year is no exception.  I’m really excited about this line-up:

1.  Sue Falsone – PT, Athletes’ Performance
2.  Ron Hruska – PT, Postural Restoration Institute
3.  Dr. Mike Leahy – Sports Chiropractor and inventor of ART
4.  Thomas Myers – Anatomy Trains author
5.  Brian Grasso – IYCA Founder
6.  Greg Roskopf – Muscle Activation Technique
7.  Brian Mulligan – PT, Mulligan Technique/Joint Mobilizations with Movement
8.  Dr. Warren Hammer – Chiropractor, Graston Technique Instructor, Fascial Manipulation
9.  Dan John – Strength Coach, author, Never Let Go
10.  Gray Cook – PT, FMS

Click here for more information.

12. New Projects – In 2010, I introduced two products: Optimal Shoulder Performance and Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better. For me, a product every six months is a pretty good “pace,” as I don’t want to become one of those guys who puts out mediocre stuff every single week.  As of right now, the only confirmed project for 2011 is a collaborative one with Mike Reinold and Mike Robertson.  I am thinking, however, that this is the year that I finally create a baseball-specific product in light of the fact that it’s 80-85% of our clientele and what I do all-day, every day!  Only time will tell!

13. Continued Show & Go Feedback – Speaking of Show and Go, it was released in late September, and since it’s a four-month strength and conditioning program, we’re coming up on the point in time where I start getting loads of emails from those who have wrapped up the program and have results to report.  I get a lot of feedback along the way, but it’s awesome to hear where things end up when the entire program is complete.  So, to those of you doing the program, please pass along your results!

14. More Writing at T-Nation – I only published two articles at T-Nation in 2010, and I don’t plan to repeat that poor output!  I’ve already been contacted by them about doing a monthly piece, and while I’m not sure that my schedule will allow me to get one to them every month, I definitely expect to be blowing that 2010 total out of the water.  I’ve already submitted one and have two more in the works.  I owe a lot to the folks at T-Nation and Biotest for the opportunities and exposure they’ve afforded me and hope to continue to return the favor with good content for years to come.

15. Watching Tank grow up – Our puppy, Tank, is about five months old right now, and he’s awesome.  He is pretty much housebroken, and definitely man’s best friend.  As you can tell, he loves hording his toys.

16. The 2011 MLB Season – In addition to the fact that my team (the Red Sox) is looking good, we have quite a few clients who are on the cusp of big league debuts, so I am excited to get out to see them play in the show and enjoy the fruits of their off-season labor.

17. The 2011 MLB Draft – Let’s just say that I very well might just stay home and hit refresh on my computer over and over again during the two days in June that make up the MLB draft.  We have a lot of talent athletes – both high school and college – training at Cressey Performance who will be getting calls.

There are quite a few other things that get me excited for 2011, but this is a good start – and probably all that you care to read!  Speaking of YOU, what are YOU looking forward to in 2011?  Got a big goal for the year?  Share it in the comments section.

Happy New Year!

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Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Get Strong: Eric Cressey’s Best Articles of 2010

Written on December 31, 2010 at 4:46 am, by Eric Cressey

Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better – This was obviously my biggest project of 2010.  I actually began writing the strength and conditioning programs and filming the exercise demonstration videos in 2009, and put all the “guinea pigs” through the four-month program beginning in February.  When they completed it as the start of the summer rolled around, I made some modifications based on their feedback and then got cracking on writing up all the tag along resources.  Finally, in September, Show and Go was ready to roll.  So, in effect, it took 10-11 months to take this product from start to finish – a lot of hard work, to say the least.  My reward has been well worth it, though, as the feedback has been awesome.  Thanks so much to everyone who has picked up a copy.

Optimal Shoulder Performance – This was a seminar that Mike Reinold and I filmed in November of 2009, and our goal was to create a resource that brought together concepts from both the shoulder rehabilitation and shoulder performance training fields to effectively bridge the gap for those looking to prevent and/or treat shoulder pain.  In the process, I learned a lot from Mike, and I think that together, we brought rehabilitation specialists and fitness professionals closer to being on the same page.

Why President Obama Throws Like a Girl – A lot of people took this as a political commentary, but to be honest, it was really just me talking about the concept of retroversion as it applies to a throwing shoulder – with a little humor thrown in, of course!

Overbearing Dads and Kids Who Throw Cheddar – This one was remarkably easy to write because I’ve received a lot of emails from overbearing Dads asking about increasing throwing velocity in their kids.

What I Learned in 2009 – I wrote this article for T-Nation back at the beginning of the year, and always enjoy these yearly pieces.  In fact, I’m working on my 2010 one for them now!

What a Stressed Out Bride Can Teach You About Training Success – I wrote this less than a month out from my wedding, so you could say that I had a good frame of reference.

Baseball Showcases: A Great Way to Waste Money and Get Injured – In case the title didn’t tip you off, I’m not much of a fan of baseball showcases.

Cueing: Just One Piece of Semi-Private Training Success – Part 1 and Part 2 - These articles were featured at fitbusinessinsider.com.  I enjoy writing about not only the training side of things, but some of the things we’ve done well to build up our business.

Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way – This might have been the top post of the year, in my eyes. My job is very cool.

How to Attack Continuing Education in the Fitness Industry – Here’s another fitness business post.

Want to Be a Personal Trainer or Strength Coach?  Start Here. – And another!

The Skinny on Strasburg’s Injury – I hate to make blog content out of someone else’s misfortune, but it was a good opportunity to make some points that I think are very valid to the discussion of not only Stephen Strasburg’s elbow injury, but a lot of the pitching injuries we see in youth baseball.

Surely, there are many more to list, but I don’t want this to run too long!  Have a safe and happy new year, and keep an eye out for the first content of 2011, which is coming very soon!

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Weight Training For Baseball: Best Videos of 2010

Written on December 30, 2010 at 4:55 am, by Eric Cressey

I made an effort to get more videos up on the site this year, as I know a lot of folks are visual learners and/or just enjoy being able to listen to a blog, as opposed to reading it.  Here are some highlights from the past year:

The Absolute Speed to Absolute Strength Continuum – Regardless of your sport, there are valuable take-home messages.  I just used throwing velocity in baseball pitchers as an example, as it’s my frame of reference.

Should Pitchers Overhead Press? - This was an excerpt from Mike Reinold and my Optimal Shoulder Performance seminar (which became a popular DVD set for the year).

Shoulder Impingement vs. Rotator Cuff Tears – Speaking of Mike, here’s a bit from the man himself from that seminar DVD set.

Thoracic and Glenohumeral Joint Mobility Drills – The folks at Men’s Health tracked me down in the lobby at Perform Better in Providence and asked if I could take them through a few shoulder mobility drills we commonly use – and this was the result.

Cressey West – This kicks off the funny videos from the past year. A few pro baseball players that I program for in a distance-based format created this spoof video as a way of saying thank you.

Tank Nap – My puppy taking a nap in a provocative position.  What’s more cute?

Matt Blake Draft Tracker – CP’s resident court jester and pitching instructor airs his frustrations on draft day.

1RM Cable Horizontal Abduction – More from the man, the myth, the legend.

You can find a lot more videos on my YouTube page HERE and the Cressey Performance YouTube page HERE.

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Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture – Part 2

Written on December 1, 2010 at 7:51 am, by Eric Cressey

Today, we move forward with more strategies for correcting bad posture. In case you missed it, be sure to check out Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 1.  We pick up with tip #5…

5. Don’t overlook a lack of glenohumeral (shoulder) joint internal rotation. When it comes to bad posture, everyone thinks that the glenohumeral joint is only a “player” when it’s stuck in internal rotation; that is, the ball – or humeral head – is rotated too far forward on the socket – or glenoid fossa – meaning that the individual just doesn’t have adequate external rotation.  And, this is often true – especially in non-athletic populations.

However, you’ll also very commonly see poor posture folks who present with big glenohumeral internal rotation deficits (GIRD), particularly on the right side (for very legitimate reasons that go well beyond the scope of this article).  This is much more common in athletes, particularly overhead throwers (read more: Static Posture Assessment Mistakes).  When the posterior rotator cuff is stiff/short and there is an internal rotation deficit, we have to substitute excessive scapular protraction (winging) or thoracic flexion/rotation each time we reach for something.

So, for many folks, posterior shoulder mobility and soft tissue work is an important inclusion in cleaning things up in terms of appearance, function, and shoulder health.  If – and only if – you’ve been assessed and it’s been determined that you have an internal rotation deficit that compromises your total motion at the glenohumeral joint, you can integrate some gentle sleeper stretches (scapula stabilized!) to get a bit more ROM in the posterior cuff.

6. Don’t overlook a lack of glenohumeral (shoulder) joint flexion. The shoulder is a tremendously mobile joint, so we need to appreciate what goes on outside the transverse plane as well. In particular, I see shoulder flexion limitations as a big problem. These limitations may come from the lat, teres major, long head of the triceps, or inferior capsule.  Another overlooked cause can be posterior cuff restrictions; it’s not uncommon to see both GIRD and major shoulder flexion limitations on the same side.  As the picture below shows, the infraspinatus and teres minor run almost vertically when the arm is abducted a mere 90 degrees – which means that they’re struggling to lengthen fully to allow full shoulder flexion (and abduction, for that matter).

These restrictions that can contribute to both faulty compensation patterns in certain positions, as well as overall bad posture chronically.  Let’s have a look at what these issues look like in the real world. First, in someone with a shoulder flexion limitation, you’d first want to check them in the supine position, with the knees flexed and back flat (to avoid substituting lumbar extension for shoulder flexion).  Ideally, the arms should rest flat on the table – so this would be a “not-so-hot” result (especially since the arms “fall” to the sides a bit instead of staying in “attempted flexion”):

Next, let’s take this same shoulder flexion limitation, and look at what would happen actively.  In the first three reps of the video below, take note of the position of our subject’s head at the start and finish of each rep; you’ll see that as he “runs out” of shoulder flexion, he substitutes forward head posture.  On the next three reps, after I cue him to keep his cervical spine in a more neutral posture, he has to arch his back excessively (lumbar hyperextension) to complete the movement.

Now, imagine taking this walking disaster (only kidding; I had Dave fake it for the video, as he’s actually a finely tuned trained killing machine who can’t be stopped by conventional weapons – and he’s single, ladies) taking up overhead pressing, Olympic lifting, or just reaching for a glass on the top shelf.  Then, imagine him doing those tasks over and over again. Obviously, the posture will get worse as he reinforces these compensation schemes – but something is going to surely break down along the way; it’s just a question of whether it’s his low back, shoulder, or neck!

Correcting these issues is easier said than done; as I noted, there are several structures that could be the limiting factor.  However, for those looking for a relatively universal stretch they can use to get a bit of everything, I like the wall lat stretch with stabilization, one piece of a comprehensive (but not excessive and boring) static stretching program included in Show and Go.

7. Don’t ignore the thoracic spine. The previous two examples focused exclusively on the glenohumeral joint, but the truth is that it is tremendously dependent on thoracic spine positioning.  Ask any physical therapist, and they’ll tell you that if they can get the thoracic spine moving, they can instantly improve glenohumeral joint range-of-motion without even touching the shoulder (this is incredibly valuable with folks who may have stiff glenohumeral joints that can’t be mobilized aggressively following shoulder surgery; they need ROM in any way possible).  And, truthfully, you can substitute a lack of thoracic spine extension for the shoulder flexion problems and compensation schemes above, and a lack of thoracic spine rotation can work in much the same way as a GIRD (substitute excessive scapular protraction with reaching tasks).

If you ever want to quickly check to see what limiting thoracic extension does to someone’s upper body posture, just put them in supine position and push the sternum/rib cage down – which will bring the thoracic spine into flexion. Watch what happens to the position of his chin, and the size of the “gap” between his neck and the table:

Now, just consider what kind of “yank” this puts on the sternocleidomastoid chronically…

…and you’ll understand why a lack of thoracic spine mobility can give people enough neck pain and tension headaches to make Lindsay Lohan’s hangovers look like a walk in the park.  And this doesn’t even consider what’s going on with scalenes, suboccipitals, levator scapulae, subclavius, and a host of other muscles that are royally pissed off!  Also, think about all those folks in your gym doing hours and hours of crunches (especially while tugging on the neck).  Ouch.

For that reason, we need to get our thoracic spine moving – and more specifically, we need to get it moving in both extension and rotation.  I’ve mentioned in the past that the side-lying extension-rotation is one of my favorites (assuming no symptoms); remember that the overwhelming majority of the range-of-motion is coming from the upper back, not just the shoulder:

Here’s another we’re using quite a bit nowadays in our folks who have good internal rotation (which we want to keep!):

8. Watch your daily habits and get up more frequently. I’m at 1,140 words for this post right now – plus several pictures and videos.  In other words, some of you might have been hunched over your computer screens trying to figure out what I’m saying for over 20 minutes now – and that’s when “creep” starts to set in an postural changes become more and more harmful (both aesthetically and functionally).

With that in mind, make a point of getting up more frequently throughout the day if you have to be sitting a ton.  Likewise, “shuffle” or “fidget” in your chair; as Dr. Stuart McGill once said, “The best posture is the one that is constantly changing.”  Now, shouldn’t you get up and walk around for a few minutes?

I’ll be back soon with Part 3 of this series, but in the meantime, I’d encourage you to check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better, a comprehensive program that includes many of the principles I have outlined in this series.

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Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 1

Written on November 29, 2010 at 1:00 am, by Eric Cressey

This week, I’ll feature several strategies for correcting bad posture; you should be able to insert these into your weight training programs quickly and easily for immediate results. Here we go…

1. Train more frequently.

Obviously, in many cases, those with bad posture often simply don’t exercise enough, so any motion is good motion.  However, this also applies to regular exercisers who hit the gym 3-4 times per week as well.  Why?

Well, I do a lot of my “corrective” work in my warm-up programming – and the more often you train, the more often you’ll have to do your foam rolling and mobility warm-ups.  So, breaking your training program up into smaller components on more frequent days might be the best way to force yourself to do the things that you need the most to correct bad posture.

2. Use daily mobility circuits.

Along the same lines as the “increase training frequency” recommendation, it’ll never hurt to repeat your mobility warm-ups during your daily life. If you are someone who is really in need of drastic changes, do your warm-ups twice a day, seven days a week (on top of any static stretching you do).

3. Strengthen the deep neck flexors.

When you get stuck in a forward head posture, the deep neck flexors (muscles on the anterior portion of your neck) really shut down as the sternocleidomastoid, suboccipitals, levator scapulae, scalenes, and upper traps get dense, fibrotic, and nasty.

You can start off by simply doing chin tucks against the wall (put the back of your head up against a wall, then make a double chin without the back of your head losing contact with the wall). Then, you can progress to quadruped chin tucks, a drill I learned from Dr. William Brady.  In this drill, you’ll work against gravity as you pull your head into a more neutral cervical spine posture.  Most people will butcher this on their first try by going into hyperextension as they get to the “top” of the movement.

When you get the technique down, you’ll actually notice some crazy soreness along the anterior aspect of your neck in the days that following. We usually go with sets of 5-6 reps and a 2-3 second hold at the top of each rep.

4. Go with a 2:1 pulling-to-pushing ratio.

This is a recommendation you see quite a bit, but nobody really talks about how to “smoothly” apply it to a weight training program.  Here are a few approaches I’ve used in the past:

a. Simply add an extra pulling exercise on the end of a day’s session.

b. Pair a bilateral pulling exercise with a unilateral pressing exercise – and do “halves” on each pressing set.  In other words, if I was doing 6×6 chest-supported rows (CSR) with 3×6/side 1-arm incline DB presses (IDP), here’s how I’d set it up: CSR, IDP-right, CSR, IDP-left, CSR, IDP-right, CSR, IDP-left, CSR, IDP-right, CSR, IDP-left.

c. Make the pulling exercises in your program the A1, B1, and C1 options, with the pressing as the A2, B2, C2.  And, simply have an extra set of each of the pulling exercises – meaning you just don’t return to the pressing exercise for a last set.  This might work out as more of a 3:2 pulling-to-pushing ratio, but you can always tack an extra set or two on at the end to make it work.

I’ll be back soon with more strategies for correcting bad posture, but in the meantime, I’d encourage you to check out Optimal Shoulder Performance at www.ShoulderPerformance.com, as this resource features loads of postural correction strategies to complement the ones featured in this series.

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I Get Hitched, So You Save $$$ (and Shoulders)

Written on September 30, 2010 at 12:01 am, by Eric Cressey

This Sunday, my fiancee Anna and I officially tie the knot.

Also this Sunday, the major league baseball season officially ends – which means my buddy Mike Reinold (head athletic trainer and rehabilitation coordinator of the Boston Red Sox) is going to have some time to do some marriage “maintenance” of his own after lots of long days and travel since the season began in February.

So, in honor of the weekend, Mike and I decided that we’d run a sale on our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD Set.  From now through midnight on Sunday, just head to www.ShoulderPerformance.com, add the DVD set to your cart, and get $30 off the price of the DVD set by entering the coupon code “HITCHED” (no quotation marks) at checkout.

For those of you who may be on the fence about the product, be sure to check out the testimonials and product information on the website – as well as the following:

13 Fun Facts about Optimal Shoulder Performance

Video: Should Pitchers Overhead Press?

Again, that’s HITCHED at www.ShoulderPerformance.com through this Sunday (10/3) at midnight.

Nutrition, Medicine Ball Training, and Overhead Pressing for Baseball Players

Written on September 7, 2010 at 4:34 am, by Eric Cressey

In honor of the end of the minor league baseball season yesterday, I thought I’d go with a baseball-only theme today for our “Stuff You Should Read.” First, though, I thought I’d give you the heads-up that I finally broke down and got a Twitter account, on the recommendation of a few people.  If you’re interested in following me, you can do so HERE.

With that out of the way, some baseball articles that may interest you:

Athlete Profile: Shawn Haviland – This is a great feature at Precision Nutrition on one of our athletes, Shawn Haviland, who was recently named a California League All-Star after striking out 169 batters in 153.2 innings, with a 3.65 ERA.  Shawn has worked really hard to get where he is, and this article shows just how tough getting in proper nutrition can be during the professional baseball season.

Medicine Ball Madness – This piece touches on our unique medicine ball training program.  At some point, I’m going to get around to writing up a detailed resource on this, but for now, this will do.  Suffice it to say that our guys will get a little bit of a break over the next few weeks, and then we’ll be destroying a lot of med balls up through the first of the year.

Should Pitchers Overhead Press? – The following video is an excerpt from Mike Reinold and my Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.  It’s a great resource for fitness professionals and rehabilitation specialists alike – especially if you are working with baseball players.

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Case Study: More than Just Rotator Cuff Exercises

Written on August 5, 2010 at 6:30 am, by Eric Cressey

I had a one-time consultation client at Cressey Performance yesterday, and when I noticed that he had some interesting stuff going on, it made me realize that I need to do more “case studies” here in the blog.

This guy had a history of on-and-off right-sided lower back and left shoulder pain.  Basically, it would act up every once in a while, then calm down when he cut out exercising.  Then, he’d return to training for a bit – only to have another set-back.  It has been one step forward, and one step back for years.

Now, if you’d seen this guy move, you’d realize that the lower back and shoulder stuff were clearly closely related.  If you’re at all familiar with the Postural Restoration Institute, he was a classic Left AIC pattern: adducted/internally rotated right hip and  abducted/externally rotated left hip – and the compensations working their way up to lead to a low right shoulder and prominent left rib flair.  Everything was definitely related.

Not surprisingly, he’d been told he had scoliosis previously – but the “interesting” thing about it is that this was an acquired posture.  He hadn’t had these when he was a kid; he developed them when he was a rower who was always on the right side of the boat.  If you can acquire them, you can “unacquire” them – but it takes time.

We’re getting him started on some drills to iron out his hip imbalances, but for the sake of this blog, I wanted to highlight what we saw with his shoulder, as I think it includes some great take-home messages on how to manage shoulder function – both in the presence and absence of pain.

If you look at the research, if you look at shoulder total motion (internal rotation + external rotation with the scapula stabilized at 90 degrees of abduction), you should see symmetry between right and left in a healthy shoulder.  The internal and external components may be different between sides (e.g., more external rotation and less internal rotation in a throwing shoulder), but the total motion should be the same.  When it’s not, “normalizing” total motion should be a primary goal, whether you’re trying to address or prevent shoulder issues.

In our case study’s situation, here is what we measured with the goniometer:

Left: 39° (IR) + 98° (ER) = 137° (TM)
Right: 58° (IR) + 109° (ER) = 167° (TM)

In other words, it was a 30° total motion deficit, with most of that deficit coming from internal rotation.

The logical next step would be to manually stretch the shoulder girdle, right?  Well, certainly, it may be justified.  However, before I go having an athlete crank on a somewhat “delicate” joint, I like to see what we can do to get that area to relax without even touching it.

The first thing we did was simply close down that left rib cage flair a bit while flexing his left hip and flexing his left arm overhead.  And, we just left him there to breath for 30 seconds or so.  Then, we remeasured:

Left: 44° (IR) + 104° (ER) = 148° (TM)

In other words, we got 11° of total motion without ever touching his shoulder.  His body did that work just by getting air in with a new posture (no left rib flair).

Next, I simply had him get on all fours and go through a pretty low-key thoracic spine mobilization with his arm gently positioned behind his back so that it was on absolutely no stretch.  He did eight reps on each side, using cervical motion to drive a bit of thoracic extension and rotation and scapular movement.  Then, we remeasured:

Left: 46° (IR) + 107° (ER) = 153° (TM)

There’s another 5° of total motion, and it got us a lot closer to where he needs to be – without ever touching his shoulder. And, the coolest part was that when he stood up, the low right shoulder was markedly less prominent – and it was a positioning that “stuck around” for the rest of his session.

Sure, manual stretching of the shoulder is probably warranted for him to get those last 14 degrees, and I don’t expect him to maintain all this range indefinitely after this session.  He’ll need to be consistent with the movements to regain range bit-by-bit and use his strength training to ingrain it in his movement patterns, but the point is that the less aggressive, seemingly indirect, and self-applied interventions are often the best way to get lasting results.  And, when they work, it makes you realize just how “synced up” our entire body is from head-to-toe.

For more information on the best assessments and corrective exercises for the shoulder, check out our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD Set.

Related Posts

Shoulder Range-of-Motion Norms
Mobilizing the Throwing Shoulder: The Do and Don’t

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