If you’ve had an injury to the area, but still want to stay fit, you need workout without using shoulders. The shoulder area seems quite vulnerable when moved wrong. It’s quite complex. It was created to move in a number of ways from rotation to lifting. It has three bones, four muscles and loads of tendons that have to work together to get the movements you want. One injury can hamper movement completely. Pain and limitation of movement can be a rotary cuff injury, impingement, tendinitis, bursitis, dislocation or separation.
In some cases, exercising the area properly can help reduce the pain.
Before you do any stretches that can help with impingement, make sure you don’t have a more serious problem. If your shoulder looks deformed, you can’t use it at all, is swelling, have intense pain or you can’t use your arm or hand because it’s numb or weak, call a health care professional. You posture can affect shoulder pain, so work on sitting and standing straight. There are stretches you can do to loosen your shoulders.
Find exercises that don’t hurt.
You can substitute some exercises for others, which don’t involve as much pressure on the shoulders. For instance, if lifting your hands over your head hurts or if your doctor recommends against it, replace any overhead exercises with ones that don’t affect the shoulders. In fact, overhead presses can actually aggravate impingement issues. Switch to front raises instead. Focus on your posture and if it hurts either stop or use a lighter weight or kettlebell.
One of the simplest exercises can help relieve shoulder pain.
If you have impingement or an injury, building back strength is important. Start slowly. Do a pendulum. It can help you get back function and heal faster. Lean forward and hold on to a table or counter with one hand and let your other arm swing freely. Rotate your body if you need to let it swing in all directions, side to side, back and forth and in circles.
- Loosen your shoulders with a stretch if you have an impingement. Lift your arms at your side, bent at the elbow like a goal post and attempt to stretch your arms back and touch elbows together behind your back.
- Just walking or running doesn’t require any effort from your shoulders and is good for endurance. Increase your walking time to stay in shape.
- Work your lower body. There’s nothing to stop you from doing leg day exercises, those for your abs or core. Just avoid ones that put pressure on your shoulder. If you’re at the gym, a stationary bike is good.
- A yardstick is a good tool for working the shoulders. Hold it with one hand at each end and push the stick in one direction horizontally, stretching and then to the other side. Keeping your elbows at your side, do it again, holding 30 seconds in each direction.
For more information, contact us at 180 Fitness