This past weekend was spent primarily traveling to and from Hudson, MA for Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold’s “Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder” seminar.  The seminar was great; two four-hour bus rides on either end of an eight hour seminar, however, was not.  A special thanks  goes out to Mo Bro Jim and Erin “Crossfit Girl” for the lift to the train station and Lee for the lift to Cressey’s.  “So, what did you learn?” has been the common question this week, and I really  don’t know where to start.  I learned a lot, but I don’t think anyone really wants to hear me ramble on about the dangers of superior migration of the humerus or glenoid retroversion.  But, if you really are interested, here’s some of my notes:

• European soccer players throw like girls.  The reason for this is that throwing sports are not popular in Europe and therefore they are not exposed to a large volume of throwing as children.  Throwing during the developmental stages, when growth plates are open, increases the amount of external rotation one can get with their throwing arm, a good external range of motion is essential for a good throw.  This is the same reason why girls who don’t play sports as kids will “throw like girls”.

• Mike Reinold has a strong stomach and loves what he does.  He once dissected a cadaver, to get a good look at the posterior shoulder capsule on Thanksgiving morning and was still able to eat that evening.

• If your client presents with a shrug like this when he/she raises their arm.  Refer them out — their rotator cuff is not working.  Do not work  through a shoulder shrug like this.

Photo from mikereinold.com

• The function of the rotator cuff is to center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa, as you see that’s not what’s happening above.

• Don’t burn out the cuff.  Heavy sets of cuff work  will fatigue the cuff, keeping it from doing its job (centering the humeral head on the glenoid fossa).  Once the cuff is fatigued the humerus will migrate superiorly, succumbing to the upward pull of the deltoid, decreasing the subacromial space.  This will cause impingement  which can lead to irritation, inflammation, fraying, and tearing.

• When working with a client who has a rotator cuff pathology it is important to identify what stage they are at, i.e.: irritation, inflammation, fraying, and tearing.

• To be safe, put your classic cuff exercises at the end of the workout and avoid fatigue.  Side lying external rotation has been shown to have the highest EMG reading.

• If you’re looking for some good pre-workout cuff exercises try Rhythmic Stabilizations.  I will have to film a video of this, as I can’t seem to find one demonstrating the manual version taught at the seminar, in the meantime if you have a Body Blade at your gym try this:

• Learn how to bench press.  There are numerous articles out there, and I don’t care how many years you’ve been doing it because you are probably doing it wrong and your shoulders are suffering from it.  Keep your feet on the floor.  No, not on those little pegs.  Keep your feet under your knees or further back.  Squeeze the shoulder — and read here: Yo, How Much Ya Bench?

• Pull more than you push.

• This is still Eric’s favorite pulling/rowing exercise:

I could go on and on, as it truly was a great seminar.  If you are interested in learning more, check Eric’s site in the coming months as a DVD of the event will become available soon.