Last week we hosted the Shoulder Solution Seminar. Coach Graeme did a great job identifying what accounts for many shoulder problems as well as some solutions to help this joint move and feel better. The first thing Graeme shared is that most shoulder problems related to issues of going overhead. Not many people complain of issues when their arms hang by the side. But as soon as you start reaching overhead, things change. And when consider many of the athletes that suffer from shoulder issues i.e. swimmers, throwers, tennis and volleyball players need to go overhead in their sport. So why do we have problems going overhead? Or what contributes to the various shoulder issues we face? Graeme broke this down to five main causes. Mobility versus Stability - If you start at the ground and go up, the body is a series of alternating joints of mobility and stability. In other words, the foot is our stable joint and the ankle is a joint of high mobility. After that the joints go in the following: knee (stability), hip (mobility), lumbar (stability), thoracic (mobility) and shoulder (stability). The image below shows this arrangement. [caption id="attachment_5250" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The body as a series of alternating segments of stability and mobility. Where we can get into trouble, and shoulder issues, is when we the roles of the joints can get reversed. For example, too much sitting can lead to tight hips and then we may try and move the low back leading to injury. Overpowered - There are a number of muscles which contribute to healthy shoulder movement and function. And sometimes we see muscles do too much of the work and others doing their fair share. The traps is a common culprit in this scenario. Do to working at computer screens, sitting...