Shoulder Surgery Naples

Training related shoulder injuries

This article has been created to avoid you from having a shoulder surgery. There are many ways and/or scenarios where an injury can happen. However, it is the gym where a lot of these injuries occur. Mostly, because of bad execution of the exercises designed to improve the shoulder musculature. Remember, our Orthopedic Corner Blog has been created to guide you with the right information and Dr. Mead’s practice in Naples is always more than happy to assist you with any questions you may have.

These are the top 3 causes of training related shoulder injuries. Please read, learn, avoid.

Bench Pressing

The most popular chest exercise is considered one of the ‘deadliest’ ones. The movement performed during its execution and the common myth of power assigned to the exercise results in legions of shoulder injuries. Besides contributing the imbalance between the anterior and posterior muscles of the shoulder, the bench press mystical allure makes it more a demonstration event than a training exercise. The bench is the vehicle for more forced reps, heavy negatives, missed attempts and bad training form than any other exercise.

Over 90% of all shoulder injuries from bench pressing happen during the transition or amortization phase between the negative and positive portions of the movement. Specially, a rapid lowering of the bar prior pressing upward results in large linear momentum forces, which must then be quickly reversed by the shoulder musculature before the bar can be raised.

When these forces exceed the strength of the joint mechanism, the shoulder may not be capable of reversing the accumulative momentum, which means that the lifter will miss the lift, suffer a muscle tear or both. For this reason, always lower the bar with complete control. This does not mean a full pause, but an execution where you can handle properly the weight, establish a stop point that does not overstretch the joint and finally lets you push properly, maximizing the isolation of the movement and contraction of the muscles.

Muscle Imbalance

While exercising the shoulder, most people neglect to train the posterior musculature of the joint. Most popular gym exercises: bench press, shoulder seated press, lat pulldowns, etcetera, involve external rotation of the humerus at the shoulder joint. The movements that work the internal rotators or rotator cuff like bent laterals have little or no cosmetic value, so few people do them until the suffer a shoulder injury. Eventually, the weaker rotator cuff becomes virtually useless in performing its intended role in stabilizing the shoulder.

Over Training

Here we are not talking about over training of the shoulder because of frequency but in the sense that whenever you have a bar or dumbbell in your hand, there is stress in the shoulder joint. So from this perspective, even exercise for the back, biceps or triceps can significantly aggravate existing chronic shoulder symptoms. Avoiding this type of overuse  demands that you take a purposeful, conscious approach to nearly every movement you make. That means in and out of they gym. Some of the most common movements, such as getting up off the floor after doing crunches, opening a car door, or putting a sweater, can add stress to a malfunctioning shoulder.

If you want to learn more about our shoulder surgery options in Naples, you can always contact us and find out more about the orthopedic services we offer.

Orthopedic Corner | Leon Mead MD Orthopedic Doctor | 730 Goodlette Road North, Suite 201  Naples Florida 34102 | Phone: (239) 262-1119