The Shoulder Genie – Eric Cressey’s Seminar at Vigor Ground (Part 2)

I gave you some time to put the lessons from Eric Cressey’s Shoulder Seminar into play with part 1 of this article.

I don’t want you to cool off though since we’re on a knowledge bomb roll, which is why I’m bringing it right back with part 2 of this series.

Here is eleven more lessons for improving shoulder performance...

#10. Get clients out of extension!

Some would say this goes mostly for athletes but I've also seen more and more of my general fat loss clients live in extension (former athletes, people that stand a lot...and even people that sit but slide their but down the chair).

When these people are stuck in extension and the ribs are flared up its far from an optimal position for the expansion of the diaphragm. Not only does this mean you can’t use the diaphragm to breathe properly, but you'll start using your accessory breathing muscles to make up for it. The scalenes, sternocleidomastoid, pec minor, etc. become overused; developing tissue density in the wrong places.

This can be temporarily improved with soft tissue work and flexibility exercises but at the end of the day it’s just patching up a big wound with a band-aid.

To work on a lasting change we’ll incorporate positional breathing drills and educate about posture, how things should feel, and exercises they can do by themselves (and how) to progress faster.

#11. Don’t replace one bad joint position for another.

Clients that are in extension will always subconsciously find a way to shift their weight forward when doing exercises. This may show in a lordotic lumbar spine, anterior pelvic tilt, scapular depression, humeral anterior glide (this will present itself as the elbow being behind the body while resting), forward head posture, or plantar flexion.

When coaching, make sure that you do not correct on bad joint position and it is then replaced by another bad joint position. A great example here would be correcting someone’s anterior pelvic tilt and lordotic lumbar spine and having their forward head posture kick in. Make sure they are aligned in all joints.

#12. Trigger points may just be stability.

While it’s important to improve soft tissue quality, we sometimes forget that trigger points can be a client’s way of creating stability where they lack it. That means that we cannot only “calm down” an area with foam rolling or manual therapy but also with stabilization exercises at the joint above or below (both is best most of the time).

#13. Healthy shoulders happen through different mechanisms.

All healthy shoulders are not related to the same mechanisms. For instance, some people may have very poor thoracic mobility or scapular control but have a healthy shoulder because of a very strong cuff that overpowers both of the issues. Others may have great thoracic mobility and scapular control but a weak rotator cuff.

Your mission is to find out what their weakness is (through assessment) and address it.

#14. Create balance in your pressing.

It’s more commonly known that you should balance out programming for your clients when it comes to pushing and pulling volume (more pulling volume is a good idea for the majority of general clients) but we should also look at the balancing of our pressing exercises so that the program has scapula fixed (bench presses) and scapula free (overhead/landmine/cable presses and push up variations).

It’s good to re-assess programming and see if there are things you can change that will help you improve and keep you out of pain.

Also, if you’re pressing heavy a lot and/or doing a lot of volume on the pressing exercises you might want to consider alternatives that will help you de-load and yet give you a great training effect; great choices here are kettlebell bottoms up variations and Turkish get ups.

#15. Just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean its not causing problems.

You can do an exercise very wrong and not feel anything – for a while. Our bodies all have thresholds and you can do things with bad form, too much volume, partial range of motion, etc. and it doesn't mean you’ll get hurt right away. Be rest assured you will get hurt though.

I have quite few conversations where I recommend people improve/change form as it will improve performance and reduce chance of injury. The frequent answer I get is: “It doesn't hurt me.”

Eric gave a great analogy. It’s like cigarettes and smoking; it’s one bad habit that won’t kill you in a day, but can do so over an extended period of time. With that said, consider this in the context of humeral anterior glide during everything from rows and push ups to back squatting. You can do it for quite a while but it will slowly mess up your shoulder.

"But it doesn’t hurt me"

#16. Safety squat bars are the shizz for banged up shoulders.

When you have banged up shoulders that need fixing, back squats and front squats can suck quite a bit and many times aren't the best fit for your shoulder issues.

Enter the safety squat bar.

Whenever in doubt, use it with your clients with shoulder pain. In most cases it will be a good fit for people with any AC joint irritation, and won’t flare up an external or internal impingement.

#17. When the “down and back” cue is wack.

The "down and back" cue has been pretty dominant in the industry while coaching many lifts, especially presses, rows, etc. Since all clients tend to have differing opinions on what good posture is, they’ll go the path of least resistance, especially when the going gets tough.

With the athletes (as well as other clients) this usually means lumbar hyper-extension and scapular depression because of the misunderstanding of the “down and back” cue they have been getting for years.

When it comes to the shoulder "down and back" should mean posterior tilt and subtle retraction.

#18. Don't stretch a shoulder unless it's absolutely necessary!

How many times do you hear the “Just stretch your shoulders” advice?

Contrary to one’s belief, it shouldn't be high on your list of “corrective” strategies.

Assess and then correct with protocols that fit the issue at hand, rather than just thinking it’s tight so it should be stretched.

#19. What do the rotator cuff, manual resistance and awesomeness have in common?

Manual resistance exercises are awesome for building rotator cuff strength, especially with respect to eccentric control.

They’re definitely not used enough in throwers training programs (or program design in general).

Before you start throwing (no pun intended) the exercises into programs because it was mentioned, make sure you use them within your scope of practice and you are confident in using the techniques. Since they create a lot of soreness in the shoulder within a day or two, make sure you let the client know what they will feel as they can panic (it’s a different type of soreness than they have most likely experienced).

For athletes during the season, consider that the soreness may interfere with performance so it’s a better choice to use concentric only cuff exercises, rhythmic stabilizations and other isometric work.

Manual Resistance

Rhythmic Stabilizations

#20. Never ever stop learning.

No matter how far you have come and what your knowledge base, always be a student.

Learn, apply (this is key!), and take in the feedback so that you can repeat the process and continuously improve your skill-set to help others look, feel and perform better.

Please don’t just read the lessons and leave it at that. Take these lessons and apply it to your training programs and the arm care of your clients and they will get better results, feel and perform better.

If you don’t have enough understanding on some of the subjects or exercises then look further into them and study, learn and then apply. It is more than worth it and it’s the only way that you can become better at your craft and help your clients (or yourself) when it comes to shoulder health.

For more information definitely check out www.EricCressey.com for more from Eric.