6 Shoulder-Saving Exercises to Help You Avoid Injuries

Face Pull

Recent training wisdom advises doubling your pulling to pressing volume (example: 20 DB rows to every 10 DB presses) to “save your shoulders.”  Like other fitness “laws” there may be a little truth to that, but don’t freak out if your ratio isn’t a strict 2:1. 

The face pull is a great exercise that can develop your upper traps, enhance posture, and balance shoulder musculature.     

How To Do It: 

1. Attach a fitness band to a sturdy base at shoulder level.
2. Grab the loose end of the band and walk back until you feel tension. Straighten your arms and let your shoulders come forward slightly.
3. Retract your shoulder blades, squeezing your upper back as tight as you can. Pull the band in toward your face and hold for a second.
4. Straighten the arms back out and repeat for 20-25 reps. This can be done as a filler, or as an exercise all by itself. 100 reps each upper body session should have you standing tall and proud.
5. ​This exercise can also be done with a rope attachment at a cable station.

T-Spine Twist

Posture is huge in shoulder function. Knuckle dragging cave trolls in a constantly flexed upper back position (kyphosis) may experience more shoulder issues than their ramrod straight counterparts.

Hunching forward doesn’t just make you look like a human question mark. It also brings the shoulder blades forward, diminishes sub acromial space, and prevents the shoulder from functioning as intended.

The fix? Twist. Move the T-spine and reap the benefits of standing straight and moving the shoulders more freely.

How To Do It:

1. Position yourself face down on a 45% back raise or a Yessis GHR.  Situate the crest of your hip at the edge of the pad (too far out may stress the lower back unnecessarily).
2. Keep your torso long and your posture as straight as possible.
3. Twist your middle back as far as you comfortably can to one side. When twisting to the right, pull your right shoulder blade in toward your spine.
4. Push your left shoulder blade away from your spine as you are pulling the right blade in.
5. The same shoulder patterning should be present when you twist to the left (left blade in, right blade out).
6. Repeat for two sets of ten reps on either side with a slow, methodical tempo.

Overhead Shrug

This exercise can correct poor posture, rebalance shoulder musculature and will have you changing light bulbs like a pro in no time. There’s a reason you haven’t heard anyone in a gym ask, “What’s your overhead shrug max bro?” Keep it light. A full range of motion and a controlled tempo are critical in this exercise.

How To Do It:

1. Grab a bar with a standard bench grip and press it over your head.
2. Keep your elbows locked in place as you elevate your shoulder blades upward. Contract your traps and hold for two seconds. 
3. Slowly control your scapula down while keeping tension throughout the entire shoulder complex.
4. Similar to the face pull, this can be performed as a filler or as a standalone exercise.
5. Eight to twelve reps per set should work nicely.

Shoulder Band Distraction

Band distractions are a tremendous tool that can serve as an alternative to conventional static stretching. They involve adding band tension to a joint and moving said joint though a comfortable range of motion, opening kinks and restrictions that have developed over the years.

This particular variation should serve to free up the shoulders.

How To Do It: 

1. Loop a band to a chin-up bar. Face away from the bar. Put the free end of the band around your arm and snugly around the crook of your armpit.
2. Walk out until you get some appreciable tension in the band.
3. While keeping your arm straight, twist your arm up and down (think about twisting a door knob back and forth). The band will aid in pulling your humerus (big arm bone) back into the glenoid (shoulder socket).
4. Perform for 10 twists up and down on each arm.

Diving Seagulls

This unique move doesn’t look particularly challenging. But the end range nature of the movement will put a ton of tension on the posterior shoulder and place your shoulder blades in a more favorable position posturally.

How To Do It: 

1. Lay face down on the floor.
2. Extend your arms over your head.  
3. Slowly bring your arms towards your hips in a slow arcing manner.
4. Reverse the arms back to the starting position over your head. Tension is the key. The seagull should be graceful, an elegant controlled dive. Not a spastically twitching shoulder slaughter.
5. Ten to 15 reps of bodyweight or very light resistance (five pounds or less) should work tremendously.

Lax Ball ART

Self-myofascial release (SMR) is all the rage these days. Athletes use it for performance, physical therapists use it for rehabilitation, and you can use it to free up posture and make the shoulders move efficiently. Active release therapy (ART) is a sub sect under the SMR umbrella and involves moving the joint while applying pressure to irritated tissue.

There is no substitute for having a professional who is certified in ART to examine and work on your shoulders. If time and money are issues this self-administered technique can aid in alleviating discomfort and enhancing mobility.

How To Do It: 

1. Take a lacrosse or tennis ball and position it between a wall and the back of your shoulder blade.
2. From there, move. Keep the arm straight and it over your head (flexion), down (extension), towards the midline of the body (adduction), and out towards the wall (abduction).
3. Fix the ball in place and see what kind of pain free range of motion you can muster. Get creative. You can even form a 90-degree angle in your elbow and internally and externally rotate the shoulder.
4. After moving the joint through every manageable position, move the ball slightly and try it again.
5. Search for hot spots, “floss” the areas that don’t feel great and get ready to feel and move better.