Why is the shoulder joint so prone to injury?
The shoulder joint is a free ball joint that has some of the greatest range of motion of any joint in the human body. We can sue it to lift the upper limbs forward, upwards, to the side, we can even slightly direct it backwards and lift it upwards. We can also set the arm in several planes, rotating it inwards or outwards. This makes the acetabulum quite shallow, and the ligaments alone are unable to hold the humeral head in it. Additional stabilization is needed, which is provided by the muscles surrounding the joint. And they are often the victims of various injuries. An injury to each injury can effectively hinder not only all training, but also everyday activities, even taking something out of the cabinets can become an ordeal.
Stand in front of the mirror and look at your hands.
If the natural position for you is to keep your palms facing forward, then unfortunately you already tend to twist your arms at the shoulder joint. The correct position is when the palms are in an intermediate position (thumb pointing forward). Models and athletes, learn to always keep their hands in an intermediate position and even with the palms facing forward. This causes an inversion at the shoulder joint and pulls the shoulder blades together. It's worth practicing.
The main cause… sedentary work
There is no denying that in our daily lives we do not respect the shoulder joints as much as we should. On a daily basis, we allow our arms to hang freely, we round our backs, and this causes the arm to move forward too much in the joint, which results in contraction of the pectoral muscles. And then it's difficult to perform activities that require a large range of motion, soreness sets in, so we restrict movement and ... the circle closes and in a moment, we can only dream of taking something out of the left back pocket of the pants with the right hand. And we should be able to do it without a problem.
Those famous rotator cuffs - what are they all about?
When we talk about shoulder joint injuries, the term rotator cuff is most often used. It is otherwise called the rotator cuff and is a structure formed from the tendons of the four muscles of the shoulder girdle: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. The rotator cuff covers the anterior, posterior, and superior surfaces of the humeroscapular joint and is designed to stabilize the head of the humerus in the acetabulum during any movement. If we have limited mobility in the shoulder joint, it is most often a symptom of damage or degeneration of the rotator cuff.
How to prevent shoulder joint injuries?
- Exercise with common sense and awareness of movement limitations. Never start a workout without warming up, which should not be limited to a few swings, but should also include all types of movements that we intend to perform during the workout.
- Take care of the variety of movements - if, due to the work performed and the position related to it, the shoulder joint is often in an incorrect position (arms hanging forward), care should be taken to provide it with enough stretching exercises and requiring a different position of the upper limb. This is especially important for people who train their chest hard and neglect their back training.
Perform a lot of exercises in the full range of motion with a small, even minimal load, e.g., lateral raises, using a full range of motion (we lift the dumbbells from hanging along the torso to the position above our head - as if we were doing jumping jacks). Similarly, we can do wide (very wide) fly’s in a standing position or lifting the arm in front as a raise. Large, voluminous movements with a small load or with the help of resistance bands are the best way to maintain mobility in the shoulder joint.