A Great Exercise You Should Do if Experiencing Shoulder Pain

Do you ever find yourself dealing with shoulder pain? Keeping our shoulders healthy can be a challenge. But, as we get older, we can find ourselves trying to understand better how to keep aches and pains at bay.

At Innovation Physical Therapy, we find ourselves treating patients with shoulder pain regularly. In doing so, we realize there is value in understanding ways to prevent unnecessary shoulder pain. So we’ve put together some information to help people avoid or recover from shoulder problems.

How Often Are You Moving Your Arms Overhead?

When considering this question, many of us may not be doing it that often, outside of putting away some dishes in a top cupboard. This is because so many things we do daily keep our shoulders at our side, such as driving our car, eating, cooking, working on a computer, etc.

This wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself, but our bodies need to move and be more mobile. We’re not talking about just moving through a small range of motion but through the full range of motion of the joint. Given that the shoulders are the most moveable joint in the body, we need to incorporate more movement.

Welcome to Overhead Lifting

Lifting overhead challenges our rotator cuff and engages our shoulder blade muscles; specifically, our serrates anterior (read more about this vital muscle in our blog post here).

The shoulder press is the most common overhead lifting exercise, and there are many ways to modify the lift if necessary. You can use various equipment, from dumbbells to a kettle ball or a medicine ball. When getting started, use something you already have and is easily accessible to do regularly.

If you haven’t previously lifted overhead, you may find it quite challenging. One way to modify the lift is by taking a couple of small weights and sliding them up the wall (quick tip: make sure to put a sock around each weight, so they don’t scratch your wall!).

If you have a stiff mid-back, you might find it challenging to lift any weight overhead. You can modify this by sitting on an incline and doing an overhead press. Check out this video as a reference.

What to Watch For

Avoid Shoulder Pain

Avoid shoulder pain when doing the exercise. You’ll likely fatigue rather quickly, which should improve with some practice.

Avoid Poking Your Chin Forward

Another common mistake when lifting overhead is poking the chin forward during movement. Instead, focus on keeping your chin tucked in slightly. This will help to keep your neck in a more neutral position.

Avoid Overarching Your Low Back

Sometimes when your mid-back is stiff, you’ll find yourself arching your low back more to compensate for a stiff mid-back.

Foam rolling is an efficient and easy way to bring quick relief to a stiff back. You’ll want to check out our article on how to use a foam roller here.

What's Next?

Our goal with this article is to encourage individuals to take care of their shoulders by lifting overhead a little more daily. Plus, with very little equipment, you can move your shoulders through full range without fancy equipment.

If you find lifting overhead challenging or painful, we recommend you contact one of our physiotherapists for a thorough evaluation of your shoulders. We have four clinics throughout Edmonton, including Riverbend, Belvedere, Namao, or Silverberry.

If you have any further questions, contact Innovation Physical Therapy today. We’re here to help you, “Love Getting Better!”