Needless to say: 1) I have a potty mouth (#sorrynotsorry) and 2) I’m a firm believer that strength training is not only a wonderful (and often overlooked) way to get people strong(er) – duh! – but also as a means to “correct” or address a perceived dysfunction/road block in movement.1
I work with a lot of individuals who complain of shoulder ouchies, especially as it relates to performing stuff overhead.
There are any number of factors to consider:
Tight lats.
Poor anterior core strength.
Tight pecs.
Wearing blue.
Who knows? Lots of things can run awry.
I think it behooves any coach/trainer to put on their detective’s hat, dig deep(er), and try to ascertain what could be the root cause for someone’s discomfort or pain.
SIDE NOTE: Too, I think it’s important to be careful of scope of practice and not DIAGNOSE anything. Nothing irritates me more – other than people who refer to themselves as an “entrepreneur” or “influencer” – than a personal trainer who thinks he or she is a physical therapist or doctor and attempts to diagnose their clients:
“Ah, yes, I see your left shoulder lacks internal rotation. I think it may be cancer.”
It’s within our wheelhouse to assess movement, of course, and to use that information to help guide programming. But outside of that I implore you to stay within your lane and not get into the habit of diagnosing anything.
Okay, end rant.
Back to why someone’s shoulder hurts.
All of what I mentioned above applies and can definitely be a part of the conversation.
One factor, however, that often gets glanced over is the congruency of the shoulder blades and rib cage.
I.e., Can a concave scapula play nicely together with a convex rib cage?
One way to accomplish this is to give the Serratus Anterior muscle waaaaaaay more attention than we typically give it. The Serratus is a “reaching” muscle and helps the shoulder blade move AROUND the rib cage.
For those who have been incessantly told to keep the shoulder blades “together & back” – which, to be fair, is important to lift heavy things – it can sometimes result in faulty mechanics where they’re more or less cemented in place.
And, shoulder blades that don’t move = no bueno.
Renowned physical therapist, Shirley Sahrmann, popularized the phrase “Scapular Downward Rotation Syndrome” in her book Diagnoses and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes.
Without getting into the wordplay too much, Downward Rotation Syndrome can be the result of a few things, but the main players at play are (generally) overactive/tight Rhomboids, levator scapula, and lats. Symptoms can range anywhere from subsequent glenohumeral compensatory joint motion (joint fraying to tears) and instability to neck pain, and, in extreme cases, thoracic outlet syndrome.
It sounds like some nefarious, end-of-days stuff (and it can be).
However, rest assured the “fix” can be quite accessible.
Anything which allows more reaching (protraction), in addition to better access to rib cage expansion (movement), can be MONEY for many people.
You can see both in action in what’s undoubtedly the most boring video on the internet.
1️⃣ As I press my hands forward I’m thinking about reaching as far out in front of me as possible (I’m not keeping the shoulder blades still).
Hello Serratus. Nice to meet you.
2️⃣ As I progress overhead I’m reaching upward towards the ceiling with my upper traps, staying careful not to cheat via my lower back. Ribs stay down.
Not coincidentally BOTH – Serratus & Upper Traps – play an integral role in scapular upward rotation.
The shoulder blades are designed to move!
If overhead activities hurt it could be because you’ve programmed yourself to keep them in place.
3️⃣ At the top I’m OWNING the position (very important) by adding a breath: INHALE through the nose expanding the rib cage all around. Then a FULL, accentuated, EXHALE to get the ribs down and promote a canister position (rib cage stacked over pelvis).
It’s harder than it looks.
4️⃣ Pants optional.
If you want to aid better overhead motion – or just help people’s shoulders feel better – it’s imperative to get the shoulder blades and ribcage to become BFFs and to OWN better position(s).
Less band external rotation drills and more Serratus activation in concert with positional breathing.
It’s official: This marks the sixth year in a row Dean Somerset and I are presenting together. We’re so excited to be coming to Athens to kickstart 2020.
My little guy has the day off from daycare today. He went to the gym with mommy and I this morning, we went for a scooter ride, and now he’s watching an episode of Clone Wars.
Oh, I also taught him the phrase “bring the ruckus” ala Wu-Tang.
And while this winter has been pretty “tame” thus far compared to winters past, it doesn’t renege on the fact that the cold, grayness, and general sense of laziness and malaise the weather imbues upon the northeast every year this time of year takes its toll after a while.
More specifically – and speaking firsthand – my enthusiasm towards training has been waning of late; particularly the last week or two.
In short: I’m battling an aggressive case of the “Eff Its.”
Second: It’s completely normal to feel low-energy, stiff, sore, or otherwise unmotivated to train in the dead of winter anywhere. The northeast – and Boston in particular – is not unique to this phenomenon.
We all go through it.
(yes even us hoity toity fitness professionals)
The feeling can range anywhere from preferring to jump into a live volcano to, in less dramatic circles, staying home and catching up on Stranger Things.2
Either way you slice it the idea of heading to the gym (in any capacity) is low on the “to do” list.
But outside of injecting an energy drink directly into your left ventricle (<– not recommend by the way) what are some ways to initiate a spark in your training mojo?
Feel It. Accept It. Carry On
My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, likes to remind people that it’s okay to feel their feelings.
Take, for instance, how much I hate emptying the dishwasher.
I hate it with a passion.
Maybe even more than kipping pull-ups.
The only way I can best articulate how much I hate emptying the dishwasher is that whenever it needs emptying, at that very moment I open the door to put something in that’s dirty only to then be punched in the face (nay, soul) by the escaping steam permeating from a recent wash, if there were somehow a theme song I could attach to that feeling, it would be Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.”
You know the one…
“Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me. Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me. Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me.”
So on and so forth, followed be me running through a pane glass window.
Anyway, Lisa is all about feeling the feelings…
…letting them in, accepting them, allowing them to marinate for a moment.
And then, you know, turning the page and doing whatever it is you need to do.
Read: Putting the dishes away…;o)
Now, what does this have to do with the “Eff Its” and not feeling like going to the gym on squat day?
You have two options:
1) Maybe you DO need a day or two off from training.
There’s no harm in this.
You’re not less of a person,
You’re not going to lose all your gainz,
You’re not going to be sent to Azkaban
You’re just being human.
Stay home, hang out with your cat, write poetry.
Or, I don’t know, might I suggest The Outsider on HBO?3
Sometimes we all just need a mental health day.
Or, better yet…
2) Perform ONE Lift and Go Home
Perform a Bloop, Bloop, Bloop warm-up (or workout) and/or then hit ONE lift hard and go home.
There are any number of permutations here:
Work up to a heavy triple or set of five on a compound movement like a squat, deadlift, or bench press variation. Then take 10-15% off THAT number and perform an additional 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps for some added volume.
Go home.
Take your estimated 10 rep max on any particular exercise, reduce the load to 90% of THAT number and then perform 2-3 sets shooting for the maximum number of repetitions possible OR stopping 1-2 reps short of failure. I don’t care.
Go home.
I like this approach because it keeps people consistent AND it’s less likely to derail someone’s world in that they’re less prone to beat themselves up for missing a workout.
Nothing sexy or Earth shattering, but a nice reframe nonetheless.
EDIT: I’d be remiss not to mention to get your Vitamin D levels checked as well. It’s well documented that people who live in areas where it’s cold or have limited exposure to sun have low(er) levels of Vitamin D which can have negative ramifications on mood and sense of well-being.
This applies to people who live in areas with ample sun, too. Just because you live in Florida, Hawaii, or, I don’t know Wakanda, doesn’t mean you’re immune to low levels of Vitamin D.
It’s official: This marks the sixth year in a row Dean Somerset and I are presenting together. We’re so excited to be coming to Athens to kickstart 2020.
Are you someone with hip pain? Knees that feel like they’ve been put through a meat grinder? Maybe you’re a beginner or just someone who’s sole focus is to get as strong as possible.
It’s official: This marks the sixth year in a row Dean Somerset and I are presenting together. We’re so excited to be coming to Athens to kickstart 2020.
Last week personal trainer, Shane McLean, wrote a guest post for this site titled “4 Mistakes Beginners Make When Starting a Fitness Program (and How to Fix Them).”
When I read it I was like, “goddammit, this is good.” How dare you Shane, HOW DARE YOU, SIR, FOR WRITING SOMETHING SO SIMPLE AND ACTIONABLE AND THEN MAKING ME LOOK BAD ON MY OWN SITE.
YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE!”
(throws chair through window).
After my tantrum (and explaining to my landlord why a chair was tossed from the 13th floor) I got to thinking: “What about the intermediate lifter? They make mistakes too. A lot of them, in fact. How about an article directed towards them?”
And, most important of all, refers to a kettlebell as a kettleBELL and not kettleBALL
I’d garner a guess that most people reading this site identify as an intermediate lifter. You know, past the point where merely looking at a dumbbell makes you stronger, but not quite to the stage where you’re deadlifting 3x bodyweight or competing at the Arnold Classic.
In short, we could likely make the case that most people will stay in the intermediate category their entire training career. More to the point, I’d make the argument that unless you’re competing at a high-level – whether it’s in powerlifting, bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, Strongman, CrossFit, Hunger Games, etc – and either placing and/or getting paid to do so, you’re an intermediate lifter.
I mean, I still consider myself an intermediate lifter and I started lifting weights when New Kids on the Block were telling us to ‘hang tough.’
I’m such a Danny.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that most intermediate lifters are legit lifters and have a fair amount of experience. It’s just, much like beginners, they have their own set of mistakes they fall prey to as well.
1. Emulating the Programs of Elite Lifters
I get it.
We’re often inspired (or better yet enamored) by what we see our idols doing (or have done) in books or on Instagram and YouTube. It’s hard not to study the likes of Ed Coan, James Fitzgerald, Eddie Hall, Jen Thompson, or Arnold, to name a few, and not want to start a Smolov squat cycle, like this afternoon.
Clearly, if only we followed their programs and what they’re currently doing, the harder and more advanced the better, we’d reap the same result. We’d be the envy of everyone at the gym…
…jacked, diesel, and maybe, just maybe, Tina at the juice bar will actually make eye contact with you.
*fingers crossed*
Unfortunately, things don’t quite work this way. Mirroring what your idols do in the gym is the wrong approach. And, quite frankly, is probably going to get you hurt.
What You Should Do
A better, more cogent, reframe would be to think to yourself:
“I need to follow the program(s) that so and so did when they were a beginner/intermediate lifter. What did (s)he do 5, 10, 15 years ago that allowed them to build their base wide enough to attain a higher peak in order to do what they do now? “
I guarantee it was a program that was very basic and vanilla.
Here’s a simple example of a protocol I use with many of my own clients/athletes. I revolves around the concept of “Inverted Sets,” where you flip-flop sets/reps of a given exercise during the week.
The idea is to increase exposure to QUALITY reps which is a concept I feel gets lost in the weeds with many intermediate lifters. More often than not the mentality is that the only way to progress is to make every workout as hard and challenging as possible.
Stealing a line from Dan John, “easy training is good training.”
2. But Training Still Needs to Be Hard
Serving as nice counterpoint, I love this quote from John Meadows I saw on his Facebook Page recently:
“Stop saying the only way to get bigger is to get stronger!
This is ABSURD.
Getting stronger is awesome and can work…do it!
BUT do you realize that when you get to an advanced stage, and have trained for years, you wont just keep piling up the reps and amount lifted. If you can congrats on benching 2000 lbs or repping 1000 15 times (and having adamantium for connective tissue), cause that’s what will happen.
You will have to find other ways to tax the muscle, for example judicious use of high intensity techniques that some people like to say do no good. So get strong, gain muscle, but realize at some point you are gonna stall and you must now actually think and include other ideas in your plan.
Please stop saying stimulating a muscle is all it needs. No it is not. The daily 3×10 with many reps left in the tank on barbell curls will not give you massive biceps. It’s called a warm-up. You will need to activate, LOAD, and EXHAUST fibers to get the desired affect once you get past the novice stages of training.”
I recognize he was directing his ire towards “advanced lifters,” but I do feel it’s a message that should resonate with intermediates as well.
As much as I’m a fan of not making a habit of training to failure or missing reps incessantly, I do find a lot of trainees fail to make continued progress in the gym if for no other reason than they don’t push themselves.
Ever.
What You Should Do
Strain.
Struggle.
You don’t have to shit your spleen or anything, but get uncomfortable from time to time.
Try this:
On your next bench press session work up to a challenging set of FIVE (meaning, take as many sets as you need to in order to work up to a weight heavy enough where you can’t complete a sixth rep).
Whatever that weight ends up being, drop the load by 10-15% and on your next set or two (or three) perform as many reps as possible (AMRAP).
That sucks.
Or this:
That really sucks.
3. Being Too Strict With Technique
I encourage proper technique with all exercises.
I’m on your side.
Really, I am.
But being too strict with technique – to the point where someone becomes that asshole nun from Game of Thrones and shames everyone within a block radius whenever they see the slightest deviation from perfect form on any exercise – isn’t doing anyone any favors.
Listen, I want my clients (and you) to stay as safe as possible when lifting heavy things. When working with beginners (and holding them accountable with regards to their technique) I am that nun.
Much less assholey, of course, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t adamant they use strict form at all times.
That being said, there comes a point where it behooves everyone to loosen the reigns a bit.
Take the DB row for example.
Now, it’s one thing for someone to look as if they’re having an epileptic seizure – or as if they’re using an industrial strength Shake Weight – when performing the exercise.
It’s another thing altogether for me to permit “some” body english in order to allow progressive overload or time under tension to occur.
The strength curve of the DB Row – as broken down in THIS article by Nick Tumminello – almost guarantees that, at some point, a little shimmying is inevitable.
And it’s okay. The world will continue to spin.
Moreover, it’s important to lean into the fact that as you get strong(er) the more likely it is your body will explore precarious positions when performing compound movements like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, etc.
I’m fine with that.
It serves as a vaccine in a way.
The more small doses of these precarious positions the body is “introduced” to the more likely it’ll be able to defend against them when shit really hits the fan.
All of this to say…
…be relentless and practice good technique. Be a champion of it.
But understand that there will be a small window (say, 5% of the time) where it’s okay to deviate.2
