I don’t know why it would be this way, but I seem to go through phases of working with clients with the same injuries.
I can go for weeks and the only injuries which will be spoken of will be back injuries.
Then, back pain will go and I’ll work with a wave of clients with knee injuries.
The pain of the moment seems to be that related to the shoulder.
I seem to naturally gravitate towards writing about food and lifestyle topics, and although hugely important, these topics are of course not the whole picture of being fit and healthy, so its time for something movement related.
As its the injury of the moment, lets look at the effect of exercise on a common type of shoulder pain.
Take note of your posture as it is right now – most likely you’re sitting down, staring either into your phone or computer. Are your shoulders up, back and down, or are they rolled forward and perhaps lifted up somewhat?
Give yourself a mental x-ray and picture your shoulder in its socket. When you’re hunched forward as you are, your shoulder will be sitting towards the front of its socket and there will be more space at the back.
Over years and years of being in this posture and not countering it by moving in the opposite direction, our bodies adapt. The muscles we tend to put into a shorter position become shorter. The muscles we tend to put into a longer position become longer. For shoulder pain, this means your shoulder is starting to be held constantly in the front of its socket.
It should be easy to visualise now why your shoulder might start to hurt when you lift it up or try to reach behind you. It’s ‘hitting’ the front of the socket.
Strength training is the most effective exercise you can do. It burns fat, it improves your fitness, it strengthens your bones and muscles, and it can help optimise your hormones.
It is also the absolute best way to ensure you’ll move well forever.
If your workout is put together with a mind on posture, you can correct (posture-caused!) pain too.
When your workout is designed to release the front of your shoulder and to mobilise your upper back (which is usually also tight when you have shoulder pain), and we add in strengthening exercises for the back, and bottom, of your shoulder; all we need to do is add frequent repetition and some time, and we can fairly easily remove the pain.
Clearly this isn’t the only cause of shoulder pain, but it is a pretty common cause. Using this example shows nicely how good exercise can be about more than just slugging through in order to lose weight. Movement and posture is fascinating. Its amazing what can be improved (or created) with exercise.
Are you in pain? Would you like some help and guidance in the best way to exercise in order to reduce your pain? I can design you a workout to use on your own, you don’t need any equipment, or I can come to your house and work with you regularly. Get in touch and we can make a plan.