We know it is Spring down in Dunedin, Florida for sure because that is where Team RevCon athlete Jeff Francis is right now battling for a spot on the Blue Jays’ roster.  Definitely not missing the cold, nor that freezing rain we had yesterday.

In honour of Spring Training I want to give you some of the foundation exercises we do with all of our throwing athletes – if you are interested in keeping your shoulders healthy, you might want to add these to your routine as well.

Supine Shoulder IR/ER

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You might be surprised at how limited you are in either the external rotation (taking the back of your hand to the floor) or internal rotation.  Lacking either one can be a problem, but don’t expect to get the palm of your hand down to the floor – that would be A LOT of shoulder internal rotation.  If you get that far, I would be suspicious that you are cheating (accidentally of course) and letting your entire shoulder girdle roll forward. That will not help you.

Do 5 each way holding for 5 seconds at each end.

BG ‘W’

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‘BG-dubs’ as they are often called are a staple of all our training programs from our Masters, to the Varsity and even the hockey groups, everyone does BG-dubs.

A great strengthening exercise for the shoulder external rotators, which are the decelerators of the throwing motion, AND a nice strengthening exercise for the muscles that pull your shoulder blades back and clean up your sloppy posture.

Just make sure you do not extend your lower back as you go through the action – stand with your back to the wall if you want to make sure.

Do 2-3 sets of 12 repetitions with a 2 second pause in the ‘W’ position.

Push Up Position + Circles

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This one is like the advanced version of ‘wax on: wax off’, so you get some shoulder strengthening in the arm that is making the circles, but you also get a dynamic stabilization in the arm that is supporting you PLUS tons of torso stabilization going on.

If you are having trouble keeping your torso perfectly still, then make smaller circles.

Start with 5 circles each way with each arm.

So there you have it – some shoulder exercises we use at Revolution Conditioning to keep them strong, stable and healthy.

Cheers,
M

PS – if a spring marathon is on your calendar, time to add some resistance training to your routine twice per week.  It will not only make you faster, but it will help keep the injury bug at bay.  Come in for your free try-out session and we will show you what we mean – – phone or email 519-645-6161 or info@revolutionconditioning.com