In this video, I wanted to go through the three must-do exercises for the core of your shoulder. Core stability in the shoulder is essential for strength, mobility, and preventing injury. The shoulder comprises a group of muscles that work together to provide function, stability, and strength. While the shoulder needs to be strengthened and activated when recovering from an injury, the core of the shoulder should always be addressed and included in your exercise routine.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
Side Plank
I got Alix to demonstrate it.
Side Plank
Begin on the floor, lying on your left side. Be your mat’s forearm and stack your left shoulder over your left elbow. Keep your shoulder blades pulling together and your shoulders down from your ears. Raise your hips off the mat, placing your right hand on your hip. Try maintaining a neutral spine with your shoulders, hips, and knees in line. You can do the side plank from the knees or the toes, but make sure you do the exercise correctly as we are working on the shoulder core, involving all those muscles around the shoulder blades or scapular stabilization muscles. You are challenging the left shoulder by going through this plank position.
Now you can challenge your right side of the shoulder when it comes to the scapular muscles or the core of the shoulder by bringing in the dumbbell movements.
Dumbbell Movement # 1 – Arm At The Side
Arm At The Side
First, move into the side plank position, keeping your hips stacked and in line. Maintain good alignment with the shoulders, hips, and knees in line. Grab the dumbbell in your right hand, lift it to shoulder height, and lower it back down. Keep your palm facing down.
Dumbbell Movement # 2 – Arms Out Front
Arm Out Front
Dumbbell Movement # 3 – Arm To The Side And Out Front
Arm To The Side and Out Front
Initially, start by just going through the arm movements without any weight. Move your arm from the side out to shoulder height. Next, move from the side and out front to shoulder height. Then, go from the opposite shoulder of the floor and move across. Go through the movement with your fist closed. You can add some weight (2 to 3 lbs. dumbbell).
Give those exercises a go. You might feel it in your core, your abdominal area, and those small shoulder blade muscles or the core of your shoulder.
Make sure to swing by ExercisesForInjuries.com. Enter your injury or pain in the search bar on the top right of the screen. There’s a good chance I have an article, an interview, or a video to help you overcome your injury or pain.
Secondly, if you’re watching this on YouTube, head up above and hit subscribe. When you subscribe, you’ll get a video like this every couple of days where I talk about tips and tricks on overcoming and preventing injury or pain.
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Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS
Lastly, if you are looking for a comprehensive program that will help you improve your range of motion and increase shoulder stability, click here to check out the Scapular Stabilization Exercises program.
