A common question I get asked when I am working out at CrossFit or working with my patients who also participate in Crossfit is how to keep our shoulders more stable to withstand the demands of CrossFit? It is recommended to have at least 1-3 strict pull ups before we do kipping movements on the bar to safely load our shoulders and prevent injury. How else can we promote stability to our shoulders to allow us to do the fun things at CrossFit without hurting ourselves?
The answer to that question can be complex as it depends on what your shoulder needs. For most of us a combination of mobility and stability is needed to ensure we have proper biomechanics of our shoulder through a dynamic movement pattern such as snatching, kipping, or hand stand push-ups. The small dynamic stabilizers of our shoulder, also known as the rotator cuff, are often overlooked and underperforming to properly stabilize our shoulders. The scapular muscles can also often be under trained and not coordinating correctly to provide stability to the shoulder.
Here are 3 of my favorite shoulder exercises to create more stability, activation, and dynamic control with the demands of CrossFit on our shoulders. These should be done about 2-3x/week at about 3 sets of 8-12 reps to ensure proper muscle endurance and strength building in combination with your crossfit work outs and optimally performed before the work outs. These should not increase your shoulder pain and if you find you are unable to do them without pain that could be a reason to come get your shoulder evaluated to determine what is causing your pain and plan to get it back to 100% and meet your goals in the gym.
Click Here to schedule your next appointment with the experts at MEND