Strong, Safe Shoulders in 3 Moves.
1.Push-Pull
The kettle bell push-pull is a great check on protraction and retraction in the shoulder girdle. With a tight grip, the user will be able to pull the top of a swing into a face pull, and press it back out effortlessly into the rhythm of the swing. If there’s any looseness in the glenohumeral joint, that swing may happen wildly, and the face pull could get floppy.
Teach the shoulders how to protect themselves, and tighten up through the entirety of the movement. If there is any deficiency, be it in grip strength, pulling power, or swing mechanics, go lighter on the weight. Start adding this move into your training regimen on a back day or pull day, with 3-4 sets of 10 reps to start out. Aim for flawless technique on every rep. This is not a move to be done to failure. Performing the push-pull until failure may lead to many reps of loose grips, and an unstable shoulder joint waiting for an injury. Whether in a warmup, or as a low rep test of strength and power, the push-pull technique should not get wild.
2.Turkish Get-Up
The Turkish Get-up is a true test of shoulder stability, requiring the user to be able to hold a 360 degree isometric in the shoulder capsule. The body moves itself through different positions and locations in the Turkish Get-up. Start this movement light, and just find out if you are able to maintain an upright, fully extended arm throughout the entire movement.
You must have basic cleanliness of movement before you consider going heavier on weight. Even if you don’t care to max out, or improve your PR on this lift, knowing how to perform one Turkish Get-up can help build functional movement in the shoulders that apply to every day life…or your gym life.
3.Bent Press
The bent press builds some of the same shoulder function that the Turkish Get-up will, though it adds dynamic movement to the equation. In a proper bent press, the user will unscrew the weight (Barbell, Kettle Bell, Dumb Bell) while maintaining a tightly packed glenohumeral joint. This is what gets challenging about the movement.
The user must know how to brace his or her midsection, hug the obliques to the spine, and keep that shoulder screwed in tightly throughout the complex movement. With light weight, this can be a great way to test movement quality during different movements in the shoulders. If any of the movement gets wild or uncomfortable, you just found where shoulder girdle strength might be lacking.
These moves may appear complicated, and that’s part of the point. These movements will not let you safely perform them without the necessary shoulder stability. Being able to activate smaller muscle groups of the rotator cuff and pectoral girdle will be the game changer here. Even if you start with a PVC pipe, this can be an effective warmup for any upper body day, or yoga class. It’s one thing to be strong, but if you can link strength to skill, you have a body that can kill.
Train harder, train smarter. All moves shown in the video above.
Written by David Corrado BS, CSCS, TSAC-F
Founder and Owner of Trainathlon.
David Corrado began his training career at age 18, volunteering as a fitness coach for students with intellectual disabilities in the Gainesville, Florida area. While at University of Florida, David became certified, and worked as a trainer and coach at the UF campus rec center. Having been certified through multiple curriculums including PTAG and the NSCA’s CSCS and TSAC-F certifications, David now trains in Boca Raton, Florida, specializing in functional strength training for working adults. He trains his clients at the Institute of Human Performance, in Boca Raton, Fl.