And I heard one joke that was worth remembering: “When you’re young, you hurt yourself playing sports and doing dumb stuff. When you’re older, you get hurt from sleeping.”
And so it is with many shoulder injuries. Go to bed feeling fine, wake up injured. What giveth?
Perhaps you’re sleeping in the wrong position. Yes, this may be a contributing factor, but damnit, you’ve slept in that position for 150 years and it was never a problem before. Why now?
There are a number of exercises that may save your shoulders, provided you haven’t reached the point of no return.
These exercises are not the bench press, the pec deck or dumbbell flies.
Nor are they lateral raises, trap bar exercises or deadlifts.
In fact, the movements I generally recommend are not even bodyweight calisthenics such as pushups.
Well, what do I recommend then?
I recommend a combination of joint loosening exercises and isometrics. Nothing fancy. Just what works.
Isometrics allow you to directly target specific areas of weakness that you cannot reach with weights or any other type of fitness gadget. In many cases, isometrics employ the use of a towel, strap, rope, bar or stick.
One of my favorite shoulder exercises is an isometric rope pull. When you do it with light to moderate exertion, one repetition takes 10 to 30 seconds. That’s it. And you can definitely feel it working.
I also enjoy stick isometrics, whether with a bamboo pole or a Taiji bang. And as I wrote yesterday, I believe in doing isometrics before you get out of bed in the morning, and not with that other stick.
Yes, I’ll be covering more on the subject of saving your shoulders – and I’ll be doing so inside the “Burly Gates” of the Matt Furey Inner Circle.
Come inside. Train with me and you will definitely understand why I tell you to..
Kick Ass and Take Names,
Matt Furey
