Shoulder exercises for stability, strength and mobility

Shoulder injuries are common in sports and also as a result of the physical stresses of daily life. Everything from strained muscles to rotator cuff injuries to simple yet painful trigger points nag the shoulders of millions. Stability, strength and mobility in the shoulders will not only help activities in daily living but also prevent injury and strain.

When people usually work out their shoulders, they tend to do the main lifts: the overhead presses and side raises. But what is often forgotten are the accessory lifts for the smaller, supporting muscles. These smaller, supporting muscles around the shoulders are important to all of us. We are all reaching and grabbing for things on shelves, the laundry, or the kids and keeping strong and supply shoulders is the best way to reduce risk of injury.

In today’s video, Dennis Angelina shows you a simple exercise to give strength and support to these supporting shoulder muscles, that will in turn help develop or maintain their proper range of motion.

Rationale

This exercise is a great way to stabilize the shoulder joint. It will give you more strength, stability and decrease your risk of strain or injury to the shoulder and rotator cuff. These are especially good if you are doing other exercises like pushups or loadbearing movements on the shoulders, where more support is needed.

For this movement all you need is a 3-to-5 pound dumbbell or weighted ball, more if you can manage it safely and without too much struggle.

What to do

You will do the exercise lying down on your side. Take your time getting down. You want to make sure your bottom arm is out of the way. You can bend the elbow and rest your head on your hand. Bend your knees to make a wider base for support.

Hold the weight in your top hand, with hand held vertical and thumb side closest to the ground.

Extend your arm out in front of you, making a straight line from your chin to the weight.

To do the shoulder exercise simply keep your arm straight and raise it up from the shoulder and lower it back to the ground. Make sure each time you lower your arm that you are assessing the alignment of the weight and your chin.

Note of caution

Do not extend your arm up all the way so that it is perpendicular to your body. When you do this is creates bone on bone contact, which is counterproductive. You want to lift to a point where the tension is always on the muscle. That is about a 45-degree angle at the lift.

Repetitions

Start with 2 sets of 10 repetitions on each side. You can do both sets on one arm and then turn over and repeat on the other arm. Or you can alternate sets between arms if that works better for you.

Over time, try and work your way up to 2 sets of 20 reps on each arm. And then as you get stronger and the shoulder gets more stable, work your way up to 3 sets of 20.

Once or twice a week is all you need to make a big difference in your shoulder strength, stability and mobility.