With the current push-up challenge being a highlight of people’s time in isolation and having served as a great way to raise some money for charity, I have to admit, we were kind of cringing here at Myothrive. We rarely see a push-up performed well and furthermore we would always pair a push activity with a pull activity to balance out the strength gains. With that in mind we thought this week would be a great time to share this video on shoulder stability. Check it out and follow along to improve your shoulder posture, correctly activate the deep stabilising muscles and get stronger!
Hopefully you found that helpful. Remember a tailored program with someone correcting for your specific shoulder stability needs may work better for you if you are recovering from pain or a previous injury. We are available online and in the clinic for consultations. Click here to check out our schedule and find a time that suits you best.
In addition we thought you might also like to check out these other shoulder stability related posts. Get some simple tips on how to improve your posture, how to stretch a tight pec muscle or how to strengthen your lower traps.
With the stretch based blog below keep in mind that we recommend more dynamic stretches for before a workout and a static stretch once warmed up or after your workout. This is because research has found that holding a stretch before a workout sends the wrong messages for the work that is about to come and can lead to a great risk of injury.
Push-ups are a great exercise when done properly. They strengthen a wide variety of shoulder, arm and core muscles; they can be done anywhere, anytime and they’re easy to adjust sets, reps and difficulty to continue to get maximum benefit. Unfortunately in the gym and the Pilates studio I rarely see a push-up done correctly. […]
Sarah explains the signs and symptoms of a weak lower trapezius muscle and how it relates to your shoulder posture or pain. She then gives a couple of exercises to help strengthen up your lower trapezius at home or at the gym.
If you already have a self massage ball, you probably know how amazing they are. Whether its a spiky ball, a lacrosse ball or a borrowed cricket ball from your kids, they are great for relieving tight muscles all over the body. Due to covid-19 isoloation happening all over the world, todays post will be focused on helping those who are working from home.
Disclaimer: These exercises may not be right for you. We recommend you check with your musculoskeletal health care provider before trying any new exercises or therapies.
1. Forearms
A lot of our customers have been commenting how sore their arms are getting from going from a ergonomic desk set up to a throw together home office set up. Some of them don’t have the same amount or length of breaks because everything is so handy in a home set up environment. If this is sounding familiar and your arms are starting to feel like dead weights, give this self release technique a go.
Step 1 – Put the ball on the bench and put your forearm on the ball.
Step 2 – Hold on the sore spot and then move your wrist back and forth, you can even add a stretch with the other hand which aids the myofascial release. 30-60 seconds on each spot should be plenty.
Step 3 – Try finding a few more spots. Also try the other side of the forearm.
2. Between the shoulder blades
This self massage technique can be done with one ball, but it feels amazing if you have 2. You can also use what’s called a bak ball or a peanut where it’s like they stuck 2 balls together. If you don’t have that you can simply put 2 balls inside a sock to hold them together. The 2 balls in a sock idea actually works better because you can move them further apart for different areas of the spine by tying knots between the balls. Try this technique on the between the shoulder blades first but it may feel nice to try on your neck or other areas of your back. Just remember you are aiming to release muscle, don’t put the balls directly on the spine.
Step 1 – Lie on your back with the balls underneath you between your shoulder blades. Make sure the balls are going across ways so they don’t press on your spine.
Step 2 – Hug your elbows and gently circle your arms 5 times in 1 direction and then 5 times in the other direction. It should feel like a nice massage.
Step 3 – Repeat this process on 2-3 other sore spots you find between the shoulder blades.
3. Neck
No doubt that your neck is probably coping most of the home office stress right now. We go from working at the computer in our work time to checking our phone (words with friends is soooo addictive), watching television or reading a book in our down time. All this head forward posture puts a lot of repetitive load on our neck. Try this self massage technique if your neck is feeling stiff or starting to give you headaches!
Step 1 – Lie on your back and place the ball under the base of your skull.
Step 2 – roll your head from side to side or do small nodding actions to find a good spot.
Step 3 – Let it sink in on each sore spot for about 30-60 seconds. Choose 2 or 3 spots, there’s no benefit to over doing it!
Lower Body Edition Coming soon
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Need Supplies?
We stock spiky balls, lacrosse balls and peanuts for all your self massage needs! Simply email [email protected] with what you’re after. If you live local to us we’ll even drop it off to your letter box in iso style! In addition we are offering online and in clinic consultations for people who need a bit more help. Click here to find a time that suits you best.
