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Got a weird, clicky shoulder? You've probably got some cuff issues. If you said "What's a cuff" this article is just for you :)
I’m talking, of course, about that indispensable yet oft-injured shoulder stabilizer – the rotator cuff. This tricky bundle of muscles and tendons is why our shoulders can move every which way without tearing themselves apart. Unfortunately, the rotator cuff itself can be very easy to injure. The muscles that comprise it are small, thin, and often under great stress in movement. In fact, at over 600,000 surgeries per year, the rotator cuff tear is one of the most common surgeries in America. As anyone coming off a rotator cuff surgery can attest, the recovery process is slow, painful, and reversible.
At MonkeyDo we’re big on the concept of prehabilitation or “prehab.” Prehab means incorporating corrective exercises (like you see in physical therapy) into your regular strength training to manage joint problems before they become injuries. Prehab requires some basic knowledge of how each joint moves, and a willingness to explore and become aware of the ways in which your own joints may be lacking.
The good news is that prehab is simple to learn and doesn't take much time to be effective when done consistently. Even for the shoulder, a complex joint capable of dozens of movements, a targeted prehab routine only takes a few minutes a day to realize mobility gains week over week.
Athletes in shoulder-intensive sports (swimming, pitching, tennis, etc.) invest heavily in their rotator cuff health (or should) but weekend warriors and “regular folks” alike should tend to their cuffs as well. A tear in the rotator cuff can instantly make the simplest daily living tasks - putting away groceries, even wiping your butt - painful to impossible. Let’s avoid it!
One of the best ways to detect and begin repairing any issues your cuffs might have is to begin "yawning them out." The key, as mentioned in the video, is to go slow. This allows you to detect and isolate the one or two points within the movement that feel the most weak or restricted. That’s where your damage is. That's where you focus your effort.
Yawning is one of the primary tools we explore in our Principles of Movement class, the perfect entry point for beginners interested in training for joint health, longevity, and overall bodily function. It's not about big biceps or shredded abs. It's about living comfortably in an agile, pain-free body, which is a lot more useful! Sign up for a FREE CLASS today!
A few minutes a day keeps the ortho away. Want to learn more? Give us a shout!
-Seanobi
