Does Your Shoulder Hurt?

As a professional fitness trainer of 18 years, it is sad for me when I see people being subjecting themselves to shoulder abuse while trying to get better, stronger shoulders. The irony in that is enough to drive a person crazy! I talk to instructors, personal trainers, and clients around the country and explain the anatomical design of the shoulder to them while showing how injuries can occur to the area, and how we can prevent or at least minimize the potential problem. I leave the session feeling good about the message and cross my fingers and hope that the information was understood and will be applied. Most of the time, the message was received and the instructors have utilized the information to the advantage of themselves and their clients. However, sometimes I go back to the same gym and see the same trainers making the same old mistakes. When I ask why, I usually get an answer about another company or organization that claimed that what I had educated them about in regards to the shoulder wasn’t an issue. Let’s face it, the fitness industry is about big business and big money. I suppose a company with a program, certification, and/or equipment to sell, will tell you what they need you to hear, even if there potential for injury. The manufacturer of the weight equipment that the club bought that doesn’t allow for correct and safe exercises won’t be admitting it’s design is faulty in the near future either. Admitting a design flaw could cost them too much. So, those folks have no choice but to put up a smoke screen by avoiding the issue, claiming that their ”studies” indicate no problems, and confusing the heck out of fitness professionals and the people who use the machines.

So, here I am. I’ve got nothing to sell you and no design flaws to try to cover up. All I’m going to do is present the basic anatomical facts and let you decide what is the intelligent action to take from there. If you don’t believe me, you can look up the information yourself in any decent anatomy book. With all of that said, let’s see what the problem is.

What is shoulder impingement or rotator cuff syndrome?

In simple terms, when the elbow is lifted above shoulder height while the palms face forward or out, the tendons of the rotator cuff get impinged which can cause shoulder impingement syndrome. This is also called pitcher’s shoulder, swimmer’s shoulder, or tennis shoulder.  This impingement leads to tendinitis, which is an irritation and inflammation of the tendon. It can also lead to bursitis, which is an inflammation of the bursa sacs that protect the shoulder. This results in pain, usually with motion, but sometimes constant.