Get strong AF shoulders

Part 2 of our 3-part installment of how to get your shoulders strong and prevent injury.  No one part of our body can function well without other parts so much of our shoulder strength actually comes from building a good balance of flexibility and strength/stability.  In part 2 we talk about lumbar stability.  Lumbar stability is for all the same reasons as thoracic mobility: lumbar stability means healthy shoulders, hips and back.    

Part 2: Lumbar Stability

Anatomy Review: 

Your shoulder is a ball and socket joint.  The ball (head of the humerus) and the socket (the glenoid fossa of the scapula) work to produce ⅔ of the movement of the shoulder.  180degrees is considered full mobility, so 120degress of this comes from the arm moving in the socket.  The other 60degress is the movement of your scapula (shoulder blade) along your thoracic cage.  

What do you need for strong shoulders?

Lumbar stability, thoracic mobility, scapular motor control and shoulder stability

How do we determine if our lumbar spine has the support and endurance it needs?

If you can get to level 4 without any compensations or loss of form, you’re off to a great start! Now you have to be able to hold this position. This will tell you how much trunk stabilization endurance you have.  As much as anterior (front of the body) trunk strength is important, so is posterior trunk strength/endurance. The arch hold or superman is a great way to examine this. Think the above hollow position but lying on your stomach.   From here I like to use the birddog progression to determine if you have good trunk stabilization while moving your limbs, but we’ll save that for another time.

As always, if you have any questions about this, reach out to me. danielle@elevateptr.com or 732-631-4233