One of the most neglected muscles in many strength workouts is the lower trapezius. If you have neck pain or shoulder pain this can be a real problem, as weakness with this muscle greatly contributes to ongoing pain and dysfunction for the important role it plays in providing stability to the scapula and shoulder joint. Most people believe that many of the compound strength exercises will automatically improve its strength and function so they don’t devote any time to strengthening it with specific exercises. I know I used to think this way, and it may be true for someone with no injury or dysfunction in the shoulder, however anyone with postural problems, shoulder, or neck pain these compound exercises may not work very well, if at all. This leads to several questions such as how do you know if you have lower trapezius weakness? And if you do what are the best exercises to target this muscle to restore it back to its full function? In this article, I will discuss how to test and assess your lower trapezius strength and the best ways to improve it back to full capacity.
Why I Don’t Like External Rotation Exercises For Strengthening The Rotator Cuff
Whenever you talk about exercises for the rotator cuff or for preventing shoulder injuries the very first exercise people think of is the external rotation exercise using rubber tubing. How come nearly every shoulder problem needs external rotation work? Do they all have weak external rotators? Many physical therapists and trainers will say yes, and this will often be their “go-to” exercise for almost every shoulder injury they see. Their belief is that the external rotators are weak and over-powered by the larger internal rotator muscles of the pecs and lats and therefor they need to be strengthened. However, this type of logic ignores the true role of the rotator cuff and assumes so many critical factors that are often the reason behind the imbalance being created in the first place. In this article, I will discuss how these exercises often cause more problems than they solve and if you want to improve stability and function of the rotator cuff, you will find there are much better choices that will get you out of pain and back to full function.
Why I Love Using The Serratus Anterior Wall Slides Drill
I must admit when I first saw the serratus anterior wall slides I thought it was a complete waste of time and would do absolutely nothing to help me with my shoulder injury. After a few mediocre attempts at trying it I stopped and went back to what I was doing before. However, as the months went by and my shoulder continued to worsen with many different methods I began researching what the experts in shoulder rehabilitation were using. And I continually found that the Serratus Anterior Wall Slides was a common exercise drill used by several highly respected practitioners. Upon investigating this further I found this was an exercise founded by movement function pioneer Shirley Sahrmann in her book “Movement Impairment Syndromes”. I realized I needed to open my mind to this and decided to spend the time to really understand the purpose of this exercise and how to apply it correctly and see if it could help me. And within weeks I saw huge improvement which led me to finding the long term solution to my injury. This article I will explain what I learned and how it changed my approach to shoulders forever.