Shoulder pain can be debilitating to your exercise regime & even your daily movements. Working around it can be very tricky and costly if approached from the wrong angle. The shoulder is a complex joint that is essential for most of your daily movements. This is why it is a MUST that you should do all that you can to have your shoulders function healthily, if you are looking to be pain free & to optimise sports performance.
The question that is being addressed right NOW is:
‘How can you exercise daily without feeling pain in your shoulders?’
1. Take your shoulder pain seriously. Who has felt pain in their shoulder before, ignored it, thought it would go away, keeping pushing through it but then it’s gotten worse? The sequence of events transpires as soon as the individual feels a sharp pain, or some sort of unease around the shoulder joint during the execution of the exercise.
A word of advice to the novice lifters. Once you do feel any type of pain in your shoulder, stop what you’re doing completely. Seek professional medical help immediately. Get an MRI scan. It is quite possible that you are suffering from micro tears in your shoulder muscles. Do not play down this incident. This could be the source of all your problems in the near future. If something is really wrong with you and you happen to disregard the pain, this can be your downfall. Take your pain extra seriously, even if that means putting a stop to your physical progress for a short period of time. (you can still do a leg workout tho:) )
2. Warm up properly. Without a proper warm-up, it takes more than a few arm swings to have increased blood flow, better coordination and improved body control. Your pre-exercise warm up routine is the key to your shoulder health. The more you focus on warming up correctly, the higher your chances are of avoiding serious injury. Make sure you perform dynamic warm-ups that stimulate your cardiovascular system, as well as the muscles you intend on working and your joints. Use lighter weights to start, then increase.
3. Strengthen Your Shoulders. Condition, stabilise and strengthen your shoulder muscles. Make sure you do simple exercises such as: internal rotations, external rotations, lateral raises, anterior shoulder raises and rotator cuff exercises. Strengthen your shoulder from all planes of motion. Keep your shoulder joint stable by implementing exercises that target the entire shoulder. www.fitnessavenue.com.au can help you with these.
4. Stretch Your Shoulders. Shoulder muscles are the type of muscles that tend to tense up very quickly. It is hard to imagine any exercise that does not include some sort of shoulder stimulation. This is why you should focus on stretching out your shoulders extensively. Stretching your shoulders not only loosens the muscles, but also releases tension in the body. Thus, preventing injury in the long-run.
A Final Note: Finding consistency in the gym is something that is craved by many. This is why your goal should be to increase your shoulder flexibility and range of motion. Your shoulders are prone to arthritis and tendinitis. Take good care of them and use the power of preventive medicine to protect them..