Are you suffering with shoulder pain? 

If you said YES then don’t worry I’m going to share 3 tips to help you become pain free. 

Just before we dive into this post I’d like to point out that the tips I’m about to share have worked extremely well for a large handful of my personal training clients with LEP Fitness.

That said there are occasions when you should see a qualified physio as there may be underlying issue that require a more thorough investigation – in certain situation surgery may be required, so before trying out the below I’d recommend seeing a specialist beforehand.

#1 Foam rolling 

Foam rolling is a great way to apply pressure to a tight muscle to help it move more freely. One of the issues I see a lot with my personal training clients is tight chest and shoulder muscles, these muscles are often overworked, for example lots of driving or being sat on a computer all day – this pulls the shoulders forward and out of alignment and can cause shoulder/upper back pain. 

One of the ways to give yourself short term relief is to foam roll out the front shoulder (see video below) and also to foam roll the upper back. 

#2 Mobility 

Alongside the foam rolling I’d also recommend working on your shoulder mobility, getting the shoulder moving in different positions and freeing up both the shoulder joint and muscles that surround it. Simple things such as swinging your arms forwards and backwards, making circles and rotating the shoulder can increase the range of movement and reduce pain.

I’d recommend trying out the exercises below, these will help increase the range of motion in the shoulder and also strengthen the muscles in the upper back to help put the shoulder into a healthier position. 

#3 Posterior Strength 

As a long term strategy most people would benefit from strengthening their posterior chain i.e. the muscles at the back of the body: upper back, rear shoulders, glutes and hamstrings. There are lots of exercise that can do this but some of my personal favourites are:

• DB Romanian Deadlift
• Glute bridge 
• Seated hamstring curl
• Lying hamstring curl 
• Bent over rows
• DB rows 
• Rear DB raise

If you don’t know how to perform these exercise correctly then I’d recommend going on YouTube for demonstrations, BUT ideally the best thing to do is hire a personal trainer in your local area – a good personal trainer will show you how to perform the exercises, and design a program which in the long run can completely make your shoulder pain disappear.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

Nick 🙂