Achy, painful shoulders?
In this article, you’ll learn 6 quick tips and the 6 best exercises for strong & healthy shoulders.
I’ll go over how to perform them, important details to pay attention to & how you can program them into your training!
Shoulders are complex. They are attached to many muscles & any tightness or weakness in these muscles can affect the shoulder joint.
Shoulder joint dysfunction can lead to pain, not only in the joint itself, but in your head, neck, upper back, chest, elbows & wrists.
To keep your shoulders strong & healthy, you must focus on the mobility, stability & strength of the muscles attached to your shoulder, in addition to your shoulder & shoulder blades. Keeping your shoulders strong & healthy is essential to prolonging your training longevity by keeping yourself pain & injury-free.
Think about how many movements you do in daily life & while working out that involve the shoulders…
Almost all of them!
You can use these 6 quick tips and the 6 best exercises for strong & healthy shoulders to:
✅Prevent injury
✅Stay pain-free
✅Gain strength
✅Keep training & moving safely, effectively & efficiently
6 Quick Tips for Strong & Healthy Shoulders
👉Pull more than you push & strengthen your upper back
👉Improve your posture
👉Strengthen your rotator cuff, lower traps & serratus anterior
👉Increase your thoracic mobility
👉Learn to move your shoulder blades in all their ranges of motion
👉The more often you do these things, the better – daily practice is key
Exercise #1 Band Over & Back
The band over & back teaches you to control, stabilize & coordinate all the muscles in & attached to your shoulder joint as they move through a full range of motion.
How To
1️⃣Grab the band a little wider than shoulder width apart & palms facing down
2️⃣Start the band down at your waist
3️⃣Slightly pull the band apart
4️⃣Keep your arms straight & raise the band forward & overhead
5️⃣Continue the motion backwards until the band touches the back of your body
6️⃣Then reverse the motion & bring the band overhead & forward until it reaches the beginning position
Notes
👉You shouldn’t experience any pain
👉To make this exercise easier, try a wider grip
👉Try not to shrug your shoulders up to your ears at the top of the movement
👉Keep constant tension on the band throughout the movement
👉Maintain a neutral spinal position (especially at your lower back & neck – no arching in the lower back, looking up or down, or allowing your head to come forward of your shoulders)
Programming
➡️You can program this exercise into your dynamic warmup before a training session or incorporate it into an upper body workout.
Exercise #2 Band Pull Apart
The band pull apart strengthens the muscles in your upper back & the stabilizer muscles in your shoulder joint to promote scapular mobility & stability. Performing the band pull apart with the palms facing up trains shoulder external rotation. Attaching the band overhead engages the lats by introducing the requirement for scapular depression & downward rotation needed to pull the band down, in addition to the scapular retraction needed to pull the band apart. These 2 additions (palms up & band attached overhead) increase the effectiveness of this exercise by training movement patterns & engaging musculature needed to combat the damage done by poor posture.
How To
1️⃣Attach a resistance band to an anchor overhead.
2️⃣Hold the bandwidth your palms facing up & about shoulder-width apart.
3️⃣Pull the band down to chest height.
4️⃣Maintaining the downward pull, retract your shoulder blades to pull the band apart.
5️⃣When the band comes in contact with your chest, reverse the motion back to the starting position.
Notes
👉Keep the arms straight
👉Focus on driving the hands apart (instead of behind you)
👉Keep constant downward tension on the band
👉Don’t shrug your shoulders up to your ears
👉Maintain a neutral spinal position (upper back shouldn’t round forward, lower back shouldn’t over-arch, don’t look up or down, or allow your head to come forward of your shoulders)
👉Don’t lock your shoulder blades down & together – instead allow the shoulder blades to move freely throughout the movement
Programming
➡️Include the band pull apart into your warmup, in between sets of other exercises, or as a finisher at the end of your upper body workout.
Exercise #3 Face Pull
The face pull is one of the most effective exercises to promote muscular balance, prevent injuries & improve posture. It strengthens your rear delts, rotator cuff, rhomboids & middle traps.
How To
1️⃣Anchor a band to a sturdy object around eye level
2️⃣Loop another band through the anchored band
3️⃣Place each end of the band around your wrists (you won’t actually be gripping the band at all)
4️⃣Start with your arms straight
5️⃣Squeeze your shoulder blades together & pull your hands back towards your face
6️⃣Pause at the end range of motion then return to the starting position in a controlled fashion
Notes
👉Keep your chin tucked back (don’t allow the head to move forward every time you pull)
👉Maintain a neutral lower back (avoid arching the lower back as you perform the pull)
👉Keep your elbows at or above shoulder height as you pull the band back
👉Perform these slow & controlled & really squeeze hard at the end range of motion
Programming
➡️Use the face pull in your dynamic warmup before an upper body workout or use it as a finisher at the end of your workout to get a lot of pulling volume in!
Exercise #4 Rear Delt Fly
The rear delt fly strengthens your posterior deltoid & shoulder stabilizer muscles. There are many effective variations of this exercise, but the one I’ll share with you today is the seated bent over dumbbell rear delt fly. This variation allows you to perform this movement from a fully supported position, so you can focus on engaging the appropriate musculature without excessive stress on your joints or spine.
How To
1️⃣Sit on a bench with your toes pointing forward & feet pressed into the ground
2️⃣Hinge forward until your chest faces the ground
3️⃣Hold the dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing each other
4️⃣Lift the dumbbells up & straight out to the side until your arms are parallel to the floor
5️⃣Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position in a slow & controlled manner
Notes
👉Maintain a neutral spinal position at the neck, upper & lower back (a little rounding at the lower back is fine but make sure not to completely round forward or look forward & up as you’re performing this movement)
👉Engage the glutes & core to support your spine
👉Keep a light grip on the dumbbells to really feel the back of your shoulders contraction
👉Don’t raise the dumbbells too high (stop when your arms are parallel to the ground)
👉You don’t need a ton of weight for this exercise to be effective!
Programming
➡️You can incorporate the rear delt fly as a strength movement in your upper body workout or use it as a finisher at the end of your workout.
➡️If using it as a strength movement, you still don’t have to go super heavy. Instead, choose a light weight, hold for a couple of seconds at the top of each rep & lengthen the eccentric (lowering) portion of the lift. Use full range of motion on every rep!
➡️As a metabolic finisher, go even lighter with the weights & perform this exercise for high reps. Don’t hold at the top or lengthen the lowering portion of the lift. Just maintain constant tension & a steady tempo & get as many reps as you can!
Exercise #5 Band Face Pull to Y Press
This exercise incorporates a face pull, external rotation & overhead press all in one, which teaches you how to work the shoulders, thoracic spine & scapula as a unit. The face pull to y press works the external rotators of the shoulder & the rhomboids, lower traps & serratus anterior. These muscles help maintain proper positioning & stabilization of the scapula during any overhead movement. Performing it seated allows you to perform quality reps without compensating at your torso, hips or lower body.
How To
1️⃣Sit on a bench with your toes pointing forward & feet pressed into the ground
2️⃣Attach a band to a stable object at shoulder height & loop another band into the anchored band
3️⃣Hold both ends of the looped band with an overhand position & arms straight
4️⃣Pull your arms back so your elbows are at shoulder height & forearms parallel to the ground
5️⃣Externally rotate your shoulders until your forearms are vertical (your elbows remain at shoulder height)
6️⃣Push your arms up & out into a Y position
7️⃣Reverse the motion (bring the hands back down to shoulder height, internally rotate your shoulders so your forearms are parallel to the floor, straight the arms back to starting position)
Notes
👉Do not allow your shoulders to elevate towards your ears
👉Keep your core engaged to resist arching in the lower back (think “ribs down”)
👉Keep your elbows at shoulder height the entire movement (resist the tendency to let them drop when you externally rotate)
👉Keep your head over your shoulders (don’t let it jut forward as you perform the face pull)
Programming
➡️Use this exercise in your dynamic warmup before an upper body workout.
Exercise #6 Plank to Downward Dog
The plank to downward dog exercise improves shoulder & scapular mobility & stability. Downward dog promotes thoracic mobility, strengthens shoulder external rotators & teaches you how to engage the mid & lower traps to keep the shoulders down away from the ears in an overhead position. Plank position strengthens the shoulder stabilizer muscles & provides an opportunity to work on shoulder protraction to engage the serratus anterior, The movement between the 2 positions teaches you how to engage & mobilize the lats under load.
How To
1️⃣Setup in a plank position with your shoulders over your wrists & feet hip width apart & toes tucked under
2️⃣Push your hips up and back & chest towards your thighs into the downward dog position
3️⃣There should be a straight line from the crown of your head to your feet
4️⃣Drop your hips & pull your shoulders over your wrists into a plank position
Notes
👉Push the ground away from you in plank position to work on shoulder protraction
👉Keep your shoulders away from your ears throughout the movement
👉Keep your spine neutral (resist arching or rounding in the lower back, keep the back of your neck long & reach the crown of your head forward without letting your head drop or look forward)
👉Externally rotate your shoulders
👉Keep your core & legs engaged
Programming
➡️Use this exercise in your dynamic warmup to mobilize & activate muscle groups
➡️Or incorporate it at the end of your workout to get some shoulder volume & core work in
Recap
6 quick tips for strong & healthy shoulders
- Pull more than you push & strengthen your upper back
- Improve your posture
- Strengthen your rotator cuff, lower traps & serratus anterior
- Increase your thoracic mobility
- Learn to move your shoulder blades in all their ranges of motion
- The more often you do these things, the better – daily practice is key
The 6 best exercises for strong & healthy shoulders
- Band Over & Back
- Band Pull Apart
- Face Pull
- Rear Delt Fly
- Face Pull to Y Press
- Plank to Downward Dog
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