Shoulder Safety in the Gym

The gym should be a place of health and well-being but most modern gyms are where physios and surgeons get a lot of their patients because of bad exercise techniques .The shoulder is the most complicated and most versatile joint in the body , but it is this versatility that leaves it open to injury , especially when faulty strengthening techniques are used .The main weakness in the shoulder is that , unlike , say , the hip joint , the humerus ( the upper arm bone ) is only covered by it's socket by 30% ;

It has been likened to a golf ball on the head of a tee .It differs from other joints ( which are held together by very strong ligaments ) in that it is stabilised mainly by muscles , which are nowhere near as strong . The weakest part of the joint is at the front , especially when it is taken into abduction ( moving the arm away from the body ) combined with external rotation ;

It is here that most injuries occur . We will now look at a few exercises which are routinely practised with faulty techniques and show how they should be done .

General PostureWith any exercise , whether sitting or standing , the spine should always be in a neutral position ( apart from ab exercises see the article ' Strengthening for Beginners ' ) ;

Any other position compromises the spine and does not allow the shoulder to function correctly .

The Upright RowThis is often done with the elbows higher than the shoulder ;

If you place your thumbs on top of the bar and nearer together , it restricts the height that you can raise the bar , thus keeping the shoulder in a safe position .

Lateral Raise

Never raise your arms above horizontal .

Lat PulldownThis is an exercise that is rarely done correctly . Most people use far too much weight and try to pull the bar down too low ;

In trying to overcome the excess weight the body is tilted backward placing pressure on the front of the joint ( as well as the back of the neck ) . The correct way is to keep the head upright and always ensure that the forearms remain vertical ;

If you get the bar down as far as your chin then that is plenty .

Perhaps the most insane exercise is the behind the head lat pulldown I cannot express strongly enough how bad this is for the body ;

Here the posture is completely wrong and the shoulder is in extreme abduction and external rotation . Do not do this !

Bench PressMost people drop the bar until it touches the chest this is far too low for the vast majority of people as , in this position , the pressure has gone beyond the point at which the muscles can hold the joint together and is put entirely on the joint capsule membranes . If you were to get a partner to put their fist on your chest , it would give the correct height for the bar ( you can mimic this with a rolled up towel ) .

Dips

Most people attempt to drop down as low as they can this exercise poses the same problem as the bench press ( but even more so ) . Keep the upper arms parallel with the floor ;

The Use of WristbandsTry this experiment get someone smaller and weaker than yourself to shake hands with you and ask them to squeeze your hand using only the muscles of the forearm , then ask them to squeeze progressively harder , to the point where they are trying to crush your hand . At this point you will see that they are using their whole body in the effort to do this .Once the pressure required begins to exceed the grip strength , other muscles come in to play to try and help . If you use wristbands this happens much later risking sudden injury .

Extra TipAlthough you may be doing exercises for the upper body your lower body is working to stabalise you the connection between the two is the core which must be switched on . To do this , suck in the belly button , but only slightly you don't want to put tension in the abs , only enough to switch them on .

Once you injure your shoulder it can be a devil to return it to normal requiring surgery is even worse as the joint is in a vacuum with is released by the surgeons' knife and is lost forever and your joint will never again function at 100% .

Val O'HalloranMassage Therapist