Shoulders

Hey, Pain Pals! Do me a favor… Raise your arms above your head like you are making a snow angel in the air, now bring them back down slowly. What did you feel? Were your shoulder muscles activating at different times throughout the motion in order to lift your arms higher and higher? On the … Read more

Baseball pitchers have an increased susceptibility to shoulder injury because of increased overloading of the tissues that stabilize the shoulder. Past research has shown that pitchers’ shoulders commonly exhibit greater than normal external rotation (ER) range of motion (ROM) with accompanying loss of internal rotation (IR) ROM. This change in the arc of ROM at … Read more

Stand up straight! Why do you always slouch so much! You’re sticking your tummy out!  Blah, blah, blah! How many times have we all heard this?  Way too many times!  But what is the solution?  How do we improve our posture? Duct tape a 2 x 4 to our backs? The fact is, most of … Read more

We’ve had a family vacation planned for over a year. The airplane tickets are purchased with no insurance because I’m sure nothing will go wrong! The hotel is booked, and we are stoked because it has a pool (the kids love to swim). I’ve even been going to the tanning bed so I don’t burn … Read more

Many sports lead to distinctive changes in an athlete’s postural alignment as a result of over-development in select muscle groups and flexibility changes at the involved joint structures. This is frequently observed in swimmers. Swimming requires strong adductor and internal rotator muscles of the shoulder, which can protract the shoulder girdle and may lead to … Read more

Shoulder instability is a common injury among people participating in contact and non-contact athletic activities. While many people associate shoulder instability with a traumatic event such as a dislocation, multidirectional instability (MDI) can occur without trauma. MDI commonly occurs in people who have increased a joint’s movement, or have not exercised the joint over a … Read more

As basketball season comes to an end, we leave the hardwood for the fresh cut grass of the baseball diamond. Yes, this means we get to bust open the bags of sunflower seeds. And yes, this also means we get to shout a slur of words no one really understands. But for athletic trainers, this … Read more

The prone shoulder series is an excellent grouping of four simple exercises that aim to correct sitting and standing posture, and strengthen the muscles in the upper back for stability throughout shoulder range of motion. Watch Cameron and Alex as they walk you through this series of shoulder movements, then give them a try on your own. Pay attention as … Read more