Writer : Lucia Farina
In this blog we are going to go over some of the ways that Pilates can really help shoulder placement, range of movement, mobility and reduce discomfort in the general upper back area.
Are you tired of slouching and hunching over your desk / steering wheel / kids all day? Do you find yourself constantly rubbing your shoulders after a long day? Shoulder and neck issues are so common, we can mostly all relate!
Through various of the Pilates exercises that target the muscles in your back, shoulders and arms, Pilates can help you achieve a healthy shoulder alignment. By doing so, you will be able to improve your posture and alleviate the tension and stress that can build up in your shoulders over time. I've definitely seen a huge improvement on how my shoulders move, not so much on my relaxed standing posture, but definitely in my range of movement and most certainly with pain relief and that's the most important thing to me and I'd say most of who I've trained. With that comes a sense of well being too, when you wake up with less pain, you can focus on the day ahead and not be distracted or bummed out by the niggles in your body.
So many of the Pilates exercises aren't just about strengthening the shoulders specifically, or in an isolated way. All the exercises for "shoulders" work the muscles in our upper back and neck as well as shoulders. The positive there is that it can help reduce the strain that can be placed on your neck and upper back over time. No exercise in the practice is done in isolation, the entire group of muscles are trained and when it comes to shoulder placement and work, so much of it is about our rib placement and mid back too.
In the photo you see Robin laying with her hands behind her head and her elbows are pretty open and pretty much in line with the back of her head. This looks comfortable and for Robin, it is. For many though, this isn't that nice to do. We can all work on it though. From my experience, the most common shoulder issues I see is shoulder impingement syndrome. I've suffered badly with it after years of repetitive circus training. I could not hold my arms up straight and they were no where near my head. The pain was excruciating to say the least. I rehabilitated my shoulders and that gave me full confidence in the fact shoulders (being such a mobile joint anyway) can heal and we can see a huge improvement, if we commit to the work. It's not even intense or strenuous work, it's just about doing it daily and being consistent with it.
Pilates exercises from start to finish, ALL include shoulder placement instruction. We can literally make every exercise be about shoulders if we wanted to, or if that is a trouble area for someone, bring the focus there. That's what I love about Pilates, it's so versatile if you're working with a coach who knows how to get the most out of the method. When it comes to looking at shoulders in Pilates, we have to bring a lot of focus to the rib cage positioning in exercises and manage the balance in every movement. It's a gradual process, again consistency yields solid results here.
The short box series on the reformer is one series of exercises that really highlights where we are at with out shoulder strength. At the gym, shoulder strength is monitored and assessed very differently. In our studio, we aim for everyone to be able to or get as close to holding their arms close to their ears. It sounds easy doesn't it!? There's a lot involved too; Shoulder mobility, back strength, thoracic mobility. Again, working the body as a full piece will do more for our shoulders than focusing on shoulders alone.
Shoulders rolling inward (a rounded upper back and shortened chest muscles) is probably 90% of what causes shoulder issues. Our beloved chest expansion exercise or the basic arms in straps series is absolute GOLD to create space across the collar bones and the allow the front of the shoulder some space. It's a pretty strict movement, and a little movement goes a long way. Shoulder problems being so common means that chest expansion can be done in every session. Having the integrity, the commitment of little and often will work wonders for shoulder troubles.
All you need to do is keep turning up. Shoulders are our most delicate and most moveable join in the body. It does feel that on that seventh day, God could have definitely workshopped the shoulder joint and make them a bit more durable, but then again, we have Pilates, and thank Joseph the man for that!! We can thank Pilates for a lot of healthy shoulders around the globe!
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