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STOP Torturing Your Rotator Cuff (Do This Instead)

STOP Torturing Your Rotator Cuff (Do This Instead)

by | Jul 8, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, injury-featured, Pain Relief

Rotator cuff injuries are all too common.

And often when a muscle gets injured we blame it for being weak.

So in our attempts to recovery we include a ton of moves to work and strengthen those muscles.

But what if this extra strengthening work is actually holding you back?

What if these exercises are actually perpetuating the issues long-term instead of addressing the true culprit of the problem?

Because so often muscles, like our rotator cuff, become injured because they are actually OVERWORKED and OVERUSED.

These smaller, weaker muscles end up overstrained and overworked because of joint mobility restrictions and other muscles not pulling their weight.

That’s why rotator cuff injuries especially are becoming more and more common.

That’s why a proper recovery and mobility program can’t just focus on rotator cuff strengthening moves.

It actually needs to focus on your thoracic, scapular and shoulder mobility as well as proper engagement of the larger muscles of your upper back as well as your serratus anterior.

But before we dive into the moves you need to include, it’s key we have a better understanding of the muscles that make up our rotator cuff and what they do.

What does your rotator cuff do?

While each of the 4 rotator cuff muscles does contribute to a different joint action, all four muscles play an important role in stabilizing your shoulder, which is a ball and socket joint.

A great way of understanding the importance of these muscles and their role in shoulder stability is to think of your shoulder as a golf ball on a tee. Your rotator cuff muscles hold that golf ball in place so it doesn’t rotate off the tee.

However because each rotator cuff muscle does contributes to a different joint action, it can be helpful for your recovery to know which one is injured and have a better understanding of how they function.

What are the 4 muscles of your rotator cuff?

– Supraspinatus 
– Infraspinatus
– Teres Minor
– Subscapularis 

The Supraspinatus abducts the shoulder or helps you raise your arm out to the side.

The Infraspinatus and Teres Minor externally rotate the shoulder. For a visual example of this, place your elbow in by your side and bent it to 90 degrees with your hand out in front of you. Then open your arm out to the side. That movement is external rotation.

The Subscapularis, on the other hand, internally rotates your shoulder. So if your elbow was bent in the same position, your hand would move in toward your body.

Your rotator cuff muscles are also made up of mainly type I muscle fibers. So if you are working to strengthen them to improve your shoulder stability, higher reps and lower loads will be key.

But remember, while keeping these muscles strong for stability is key, if that golf ball isn’t properly aligned on that tee, or other muscles aren’t pulling their weight, your rotator cuff can easily become overworked which can lead to injury.

That’s why you want to include these 4 exercises to foam roll, stretch and activate and keep your shoulders healthy and happy! These moves will help you work on your thoracic, shoulder and scapular mobility and stability.

They are important to include in your upper body training routines if you have a desk job especially and can easily be combined even into a quick warm up before your workouts.

4 KEY MOVES TO DO INSTEAD TO PREVENT ROTATOR CUFF OVERUSE INJURIES

EXERCISE #1: Chest Foam Rolling

Your pec minor and major can become shortened and tight, especially if you spend a ton of time hunched over throughout the day.

This can lead to both internal shoulder rotation but also anterior tipping and downward rotation of our shoulder blades and create overuse of the rotator cuff.

That’s why it’s key we first use foam rolling to relax this overactive muscle!

To roll out your chest, you can use a larger ball against the ground or a smaller ball in a doorway.

Start with the ball just inside your shoulder joint and under your collarbone. You will not roll back and forth but hold and relax as you apply pressure. Be careful and very gentle if you start to work the ball toward your sternum.

As you hold with the ball pressing in to your chest just inside your shoulder, you can lift your arm overhead and slowly lower it down if standing in a doorway or rolling out against a pole.

If you’re lying on the ground, you can make a snow angel movement as you hold to help create tension and then relax to help the muscle relax and release itself.

EXERCISE #2: Active Foam Roller Star Stretch

Spinal mobility is key so that we don’t seek out extra mobility from our shoulders to perform exercises like the overhead press, which can strain our rotator cuff.

Proper spinal mobility also allows us to have proper scapular movement so we properly engage the muscles of our upper back to support our shoulders.

That’s why the Active Foam Roller Star Stretch is a great move to include.

Place a foam roller or block on the ground to one side.

Lie on your back with the roller running parallel to your body and bend your knee on the side further from the roller to about 90 degrees.

Pull your knee across your body to place it on the roller with your opposite hand as you place your other hand behind your head so your elbow is open and out.

Rotate that elbow in front of your face to touch the elbow down to the ground in front of you.

Then lift the elbow up as you rotate your chest open toward the ceiling. Rotate through your spine as you try to touch your shoulder open to the ground.

Focus on twisting through your spine without letting your knee come up off the roller. Open up, pause and then rotate back closed. Repeat all reps on one side before switching. Do not just flap your arm.

EXERCISE #3: Lying W Pulldowns

To help support your shoulders and improve your posture, you then want to activate the muscles of your upper back, like your mid and lower traps especially.

A great way to improve your shoulder health and target these muscles, as well as your lats, is with activation moves like the Lying W Pulldowns that work on retraction and scapular depression.

To do Lying W Pull Downs, lie face down on the ground with your arms extended overhead, thumbs facing up toward the ceiling as if giving a thumbs up. Engage your upper back to lift your face and arms just off of the ground. You can also put a towel under your forehead if you struggle with engaging your neck.

Then begin to bend your elbows, pulling them down and in toward your sides.

Feel your shoulder blades pinch slightly together as you pull them down. Feel yourself initiate the movement by the movement of your shoulder blades.

Pull your elbows down and in as if you pulled your chest up to a pull up bar.

Then keeping your hands off the ground, extend your arms straight out toward the wall in front of you. Reach out overhead the bring your hands back down and in.

Feel your back and even your lats as you pull your elbows back down and in to your sides.

EXERCISE #4: Serratus Anterior Press

The serratus anterior is a primary scapular stabilizer and weakness of this muscle has been linked to neck, shoulder and even upper back aches and pains.

A strong serratus anterior is key as it will help posteriorly tip the shoulder blade as well as help you perform proper upward rotation of the shoulder blade. It will help you avoid those rotator cuff muscles becoming overworked!

To strengthen your Serratus Anterior include the Serratus Anterior Press in your activation routine.

Start in a staggered stance with the opposite foot forward from the hand holding the band in at your chest.

Then press the band out from your chest and slightly up. Feel yourself pulling your shoulder blade forward around your ribs as you reach out. You aren’t just doing a unilateral chest press.

Then slowly bring your hand back in toward your chest. Do not rotate toward the anchor point.

You want to focus on the movement being felt around your ribs as you protract your shoulder blade or pull it away from your spine.

SUMMARY:

To keep those shoulders healthy and happy and avoid rotator cuff issues, try combining these 4 moves into a quick mobility routine or use them as a warm up, performing 30-45 seconds per move or side.

With these moves remember you are working to improve your shoulder, scapular and thoracic mobility while activating the muscles of your upper back to help prevent those rotator muscles from becoming injured because they’re overworked.

We want to make sure we’re addressing the underlying cause of the injury and not just torturing our rotator cuff more!

FHP 326 – 4 Things Successful People Don’t Do

FHP 326 – 4 Things Successful People Don’t Do

by | Jul 5, 2021 | podcast

I was thinking about what most often leads to a client being successful…and honestly it never boils down to the fact that they really have more willpower. Or better macros or better workouts.

It boils down to the fact that they truly take OWNERSHIP of the process. They focus on finding a way through the ideal, and not so ideal times.

And they recognize the power of their mindset.

Because so often we try to search for a perfect diet, a perfect workout. A perfect supplement or move. When really, it comes down to the fact that…

“What our mind believes, our body achieves.”

That’s why I wanted to share 4 things successful people DON’T DO with some tips to help you avoid these pitfalls.

#1: Blame things outside themselves

No not everything that happens in life is within your control. But recognizing you can ALWAYS control your reaction to events ultimately is key.

Because that puts you in a position of power to move forward.

Blaming the sucky thing that did happen may make you feel like it wasn’t your fault, but it does nothing to move you forward.

It makes you a victim over a victor.

We have to remember that we can’t control what we can’t control. And dwelling on it doesn’t change it.

If we instead see each situation as an opportunity or chance to learn and move forward, we can then find ways to achieve success even if the path isn’t what we initially envisioned.

Blaming something outside yourself may make you feel less bad about the situation, but it does NOTHING to move you forward. It does nothing to empower you so that you realize that you can CHOOSE to make a path forward.

So today if something happens, instead of making an excuse or blaming the event, focus on finding a solution. A way to move forward regardless!

#2: Focus on Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda 

Hindsight is always 20/20. You should always want to learn and grow so that you look back on the past and would have done something differently.

But the simple fact is…you can’t go back and change anything.

You can only move forward.

Reflect and learn from the past but stay focused on the future.

When you’re tempted to start moping about what you coulda, shoulda, woulda done, instead tell yourself, “I won’t make that mistake again!”

Find an action item out of the learning experience that you’re going to implement moving forward.

See everything you do as a learning experience. Even a new program.

So what if it doesn’t work out? So what if you weren’t able to be as perfect as you would have liked?

What did you learn so you can keep moving forward?

Take one positive from it and remind yourself of it!

#3: Give up.

Honestly success is about being punched in the gut and standing right back up. Rarely have I had a client say “Well life just went perfectly the entire time I was training with you and that’s why I got results.”

Actually often I have clients say, “I got results DESPITE (insert all the stuff that happened there).”

Failure is really not the opposite of success. It’s a part of it.

And the more we see each setback as a learning experience, the more successful we will ultimately be.

Instead of trying to forget your mistakes, remind yourself of them but with the key things you now know BECAUSE of them.

We can often learn even more from the things that didn’t work than the things that did.

So as you even start a new program, remind yourself it will be a learning experience. Track and make note of not only what does work but also what doesn’t!

That allows you to do more of the good while avoiding the bad.

But just remember there will be ups and downs.

And success is most often defined, not by what we do when times are perfect, but by how we continue on through the times life works against us!

#4: Expect immediate results

We all wish results happened yesterday.

But change takes time and there is often a learning process full of ups and downs we first have to go through.

And as cliche as it is, I think it’s key we remind ourselves at times that anything in life worth having takes work.

However, during the day to day grind it can be hard to keep your eye on that long-term prize.

So the more we can set goals that do provide the motivation of seeing immediate results as often as possible? THE BETTER!

So if you’re starting a new program, consider ways to celebrate those habit goals as wins. Set mini challenges for yourself even so that you can see progress in different ways more consistently to keep doing the things you know will ultimately lead to success.

And when you feel discouraged, remind yourself results are building and often when we want to give up? Well that’s the time to push even harder!

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How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief

Sit ups get a bad rap because of the spinal flexion involved in the movement.

But guess what?

Our abs are worked by spinal flexion.

Yes they work to stabilize and prevent extension and brace to protect our spine, which is why planks are key too, but they do power spinal flexion.

And yes, we do work our core through all the amazing compound exercises out there like pull ups and squats and deadlifts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also safely include spinal flexion moves to target our abs with a movement pattern they are MEANT to perform.

The key is learning to do sit ups properly so we aren’t compensating and overworking our lower back or relying simply on our hip flexors to sit up.

Here are 3 tips to help you get the most out of this basic move to work your abs through spinal flexion.

3 Tips To Improve Your Sit Ups

#1: Don’t sit up – roll up!

If you want to really focus on using your abs to sit up, don’t simply hinge and sit up at your hips. Focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time.

Think about truly curling your spine to come up.

You’ll realize this makes your abs work a lot harder and you feel your hip flexors working a lot less.

We have to remember that our abs power spinal flexion. And that curl to roll up is the spinal flexion we need to target our abs.

When we simply sit up and lie down, we often are performing the movement mainly as hip flexion. To get that ab engagement, we need that spinal flexion.

So focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time before sitting up nice and tall at the top. Then roll back down.

Even slow down the movement to focus on your abs over rushing through!

#2: Drive your heels down into the ground.

One of the best ways to relax an overactive muscle is to engage the opposing muscle group.

Often with sit ups, you see people’s legs flopping all over the place. Their legs lift and their hip flexors engage.

Next time you do sit ups, set up at the top and drive your heels down hard into the ground. Even think about slightly curling them back toward your butt. This will engage your hamstrings ever so slightly and help shut off your hip flexors.

Then slowly roll down.

Keep that tension, pushing your heels down into the ground as you roll down and come to rest at the bottom.

Keep that same pressure, pushing your heels down, as you sit back up.

You not only won’t feel your hips as much, but you may feel your abs more.

If you really struggle with your hips becoming over worked, you can even do a little hamstring hack, looping a band behind your heels to help you better engage those hamstrings if you struggle with applying pressure down into the ground.

#3: Don’t swing your arms overhead.

I know it can feel like we need the momentum to help us get back up, but swinging your arms is not only a way to cheat and not use your abs, but it can also cause you to arch your lower back at the bottom of the move and result in your lower back becoming overworked.

When you lie back down, you can bring your hands under your chin and then extend them toward your legs as you sit up if you do need a very slight assist in rolling up or you can keep them extended toward your legs.

The key is slowing down this move over trying to power through more reps.

If you really can’t get up without using the momentum, try a Seated Hinge variation, doing a top down variation of the sit up. Start at the top seated and only round to hinge back as far as you can control instead of starting lying on the ground.

This can help you learn to roll back to start.

SUMMARY:

Too often we take for granted this very basic ab move. And we demonize it for causing lower back pain when we simply aren’t performing it correctly and using the spinal flexion to work our abs.

Try these 3 tweaks and make your abs work during this basic move and stop relying on your hip flexors while overworking your lower back!

FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

by | Jun 28, 2021 | podcast

Guess what? 

You’re human. You’re never going to be perfect.

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true.

And honestly, if you ever look back at a project you’ve done and there is nothing you would change?

You’re either…

A. Not being honest with yourself…

Or…

B. You’ve stopped learning and started standing still.

Because as we learn and grow, we will always find flaws in earlier plans.

And it’s key we realize this because so often we hold ourselves back from ever getting started because we want something to be “perfect.”

We have to recognize that perfection can actually hinder progress!

If you’re ready to make a change, check out my RS Recipe for results. These 3 steps are key… 

–> Learn More About How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off For GOOD!

 

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

by | Jun 21, 2021 | podcast

Ok so we all do this…when talking with someone, looking back on the path we had to take for results, we’ll say, “It wasn’t that bad.”

Because in the end it was worth it AND we’ve adjusted to the new habits so they feel easier.

But I guarantee many of us to start did some whining about how sucky or hard or confusing the process was.

Because, guess what?

Change IS hard.

Reaching a goal we’ve never reached is OVERWHELMING AND TOUGH.

The learning process sucks.

It’s not fun to not be good at something.

But even the master was once a beginner.

It’s funny though how we start to dislike the discomfort of learning, of feeling out of our element more and more as we get older.

We believe there are things we are slightly entitled to….that shouldn’t be tough.

But if we haven’t learned the way to do something previously, it isn’t going to be easy and we are going to mess up.

Think back to being a kid…I don’t know about you but there were plenty of times I whined about things being hard.

And 99% of the time I was told, yes? Things are hard. But learning how to do them makes it easier!

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now with making a change, if you’re feeling frustrated by things being hard?

Well, maybe it’s time to tell yourself to suck it up buttercup and recognize that new can be difficult.

But by practicing and working through it and LEARNING, it gets easier!

Because the path to success means you have to go through the hard to get the result.

Sorry you can’t dodge that learning process.