Hi everyone! This week we are back to dive into the treatment portion of our shoulder series. Over the past month, we’ve talked about how the shoulder functions, what joints are responsible for moving it, and last but not least how the different layers of muscles are connected. The big take away should have been that the shoulder is the least stable joint of the body and that there are actually four joints responsible for moving are arm. What does that mean to you as an athlete?? That we need to keep those stabilizers healthy and mobile.

In this video we are going to be using the foam roller on those stabilizers (lats, serratus, pecs, triceps, and the big intersection that is our armpit). From there we’re going to shift to stretching out our neck. Yes, you read that right! In particular we want to loosen up the upper traps and levator.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Foam roller: 1 minute of each (armpit, tricep, pecs)
• Stretches: 30 seconds x 2 of each (levator, upper trap)
• Total time = 5 minutes

shoulder massage pt 1 from Athletes Treating Athletes on Vimeo.

In our previous three posts, we talked about the two deeper muscle lines in the arms, as well as, the superficial chain in the front of the body. This week we’re going to introduce the last muscle/fascial chain- the superficial back arm. If you think of the deep lines as our stabilizers, the superficial lines are the real power behind reaching overhead, reaching out to the side, and pushing/pulling. It’s important to realize that these muscle chains/lines all work together. If the deeper lines are restricted/stuck, they will compromise the more superficial muscles and vice versa.

In terms of function, this muscle chain is responsible for controlling the movement of our arm behind us, as well as, out to the side. To do that we need larger muscles which we get in the Trapezius and Deltoid. Both of these muscles feature multiple functional parts capable of moving the arm in multiple directions. This makes them powerful abductors. From the Deltoid, this arm line travels down the lateral septum (which separates the muscles in the front of the arm from the back of the arm). It then connects to the common extensor group (purple in the picture above). The extensor group originates on the lateral epicondyle and travels down the back of the forearm and hand to our fingertips.

Here’s a video to walk you through the muscles in this chain and to show you how to stretch them: