Foam Roller Exercises that Focus on Opening Your Shoulder and Stretching Your Shoulder MusclesThis article focuses on foam roller exercises for your shoulder and your shoulder muscles. The body-mind connection is very strong and when you do these exercises, this connection can be tapped into! ‘The mind can cook up very subtle syndromes to throw at our bodies.’ ~ Astrid Alauda The foam roller exercises that I show you will include cross friction rolling of the shoulder muscles as well as shoulder stretches to help you further stretch out tight muscles of the chest, upper arm and upper back. All of these muscle groups make up the 'shoulder.' The shoulder is a very complex system of muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones. Because the shoulder is the most mobile of all the joints in the body it is the most prone for injuiries. The shoulder has more range of motion and can move in more directions than another other joints in the body. Since the shoulder itself and its problems can be very complex, I include excellent references for your education if you desire to know more. If you desire to skip the introductory material, scroll down the page to jump straight to the exercise video and foam roller shoulder stretches. For more information regarding the body-mind connection and foam roller exercises, see my article on Foam Rolling. Foam roller exercises use a technique called self myofascial release. Self myofascial release is the scientific word for breaking up the stress knots in your shoulder muscles from tension and overuse. Self myofascial release is a phenomenal physical release that allows you to reconnect with your body's messages. If you read Foam Rolling, I describe in more detail how the body-mind connection is used for healing with self myofascial release. When you do foam roller exercises for muscular tension release, this activity will often bring about emotional release too! It is because of the pent up energy and tension in your muscles that is dying to come out. All bodyworkers know that there are "issues in the tissues!" As you do the foam rolling and become more aware of your tension areas, you can focus on that area for healing. This makes the whole process of foam rolling more intuitive and meditative. This process is a way for you to learn how to 'feel it and heal it!' Emotions Affect Our Body in ways we don't even realize, so when you foam roll you are giving your body a chance to speak to you in its unique way! If you have not yet purchased a foam roller, I would urge you to do so. I recommend the Premium Textured EVA foam roller from Power Systems. The one I purchased is the best I have to date. It is nice and cushioned on the outside, but firm on the inside for effective foam rolling. It also has a textured surface to stick to my yoga mat better. It is pricier than the cheap ones, but worth every penny. The Function of the ShoulderSimply stated, the shoulder is responsible for all arm movements. The shoulder joint is a ball in socket joint. The head of the humerus, the upper arm bone, fits into the glenoid cavity of the scapula (shoulder blade), like a golf ball sits on a tee. The mechanical fit of this ball and socket is not what stabilizes the shoulder joint. In order to remain in a stable or in a normal position, the shoulder joint must be anchored by shoulder muscles, tendons and ligaments. Even further, the bones of the clavicle (collar bone), and scapula (shoulder bone in the upper back) are connected with ligaments. Tendons from muscles that attach to the bones and connective tissue surrounding the shoulder joint makes up the rotator cuff. This soft tissue allows for great range of motion in the shoulder, but also can easily lead to over-stretched or torn shoulder muscles and ligaments that become shoulder injuries. Several websites to help you understand the shoulder joint are as follows: Gender Differences in the ShoulderWhile there is not much information or research regarding gender differences in the shoulder, there are overall differences in strength, speed and endurance in men versus women. Women lag the most in the strength and speed category, but they seem to be catching up in the endurance arena. It seems that women may be more suited physiologically to endurance activity than men due to an enhanced ability to conserve muscle glycogen and the ability to utilize fat for energy. This means that they are more efficient utilizers of oxygen. The female may have more lax ligaments than males, as a result of hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle. There is some research evidence to support this. Because of this flexibility in the ligaments, supposedly women are more prone to joint injuries and the shoulder is no exception, especially for sports that involve overhand movements, like tennis, swimming, weight lifting, baseball and softball. Statistically, women in sports have more shoulder injuries than men. Men who power lift often inadvertently cause shortening of their pectoral muscles if over-trained. It is easy for a man to over-train the pectorals when our culture admires the pectoral muscles more than shoulder muscles. This shortening of the chest muscles can cause the shoulders to slump forward, if the upper back muscles are not equally strengthened. See Foam Roller Exercises to Open the Chest to read more about this concept. This forward slump may contribute to shoulder problems. Poor posture in both sexes can also contribute to shoulder issues. If you slump forward, especially when sitting at your desk all day long, the shoulder no longer remains in the proper, upright and neutral position, causing potential shoulder problems. To learn more, please read Understanding Your Body ~ What your Posture and Movements Say About You. While female athletes may have more shoulder injuries than men, in my experience, regular guys seem to have more issues with their shoulders than regular gals. My male friends have shoulder problems, my father-in-law has shoulder problems, my husband had shoulder problems, and one of my male clients has frozen shoulders. Everywhere I look, men are complaining about limited range of motion and pain in their shoulders when they perform certain tasks, especially overhead tasks. I believe this is true, because men perceive that they carry the financial and mechanical burdens of the family and the home on their shoulders. They are the breadwinners, the fixer-uppers, the Tim the Tool Man. Argh Argh! They have stronger shoulders, broader shoulders and take their burdens seriously. Lots of forceful work with arms overhead leads to shoulder issues. Compare this to women who have more issues with their hips and pelvis, relating to issues of power and control, creativity and sexuality. See Foam Roller Exercises to Open the Hip to read about these issues.
Meditate on the Meaning of Your Shoulders in Your LifeI love the use of metaphors, and the body metaphors surrounding the shoulders are no exception. Body metaphors are a result of the collective human experience of the body-mind connection. Please read What is a Metaphor and Why is it Important? to understand this concept more fully and the part that body metaphors play in our lives. The shoulders contain many body metaphors that relate to lifting and carrying life’s burdens. Shoulders are about carrying these burdens and the posture of your shoulders reflects your joy and hope in life versus reflecting your helplessness and hopelessness. If your shoulders are slumped and rounded, the weight of your burdens are too great, and reflect this by your ‘sagging shoulders.’ We all know the metaphorical meaning of sagging shoulders. It is clearly the opposite of joy and happiness, isn’t it? When your burdens feel light you ‘throw your shoulders back’ in joy and move forward with confidence and hope! So when issues in your life come up that are heavy and need to be carried, do you then ‘carry the weight of the world on your shoulders’ and ‘shoulder the burden’ or do you ‘shrug your shoulders’ and ‘shrug it off?’ Do you ‘square your shoulders’ and get ready for the fight? Do you see the difference in the various body metaphors? The shoulders reflect our attitude toward our burdens in life. We can either perceive them as burdens or we can perceive them as opportunities for growth. If I say he has ‘broad shoulders’ doesn’t it mean that he can handle anything? Create your list of affirmations to help you shoulder your burdens that you have to carry. You can square your shoulders or have slopping shoulders, the choice is yours - it truly all does depend on your attitude. Shoulder PainUpper back pain and shoulder pain go hand-in-hand. Prolonged sitting on your job at your computer is a set-up for bad posture, slumped shoulders and shortened, tight hip flexors. When we sit too long at work, without taking stretch breaks, we are succumbing to the control of our job, and saying that it controls our health and us! Don’t fall into this trap. You will be a much better employee in the long run and be way more productive if you take ‘health breaks’ and get up out of your chair every ½ to one hour for just one minute to do shoulder stretches and other stretches, get your circulation going again and empty your mind for a short while! Chronic shoulder pain and immobility of the shoulder joint is a real problem for a lot of folks, especially men. These foam roller exercises and shoulder stretches that I will show you will help you in opening your shoulders and will give you unique foam roller shoulder stretches for your shoulder muscles. The exercises will help you manage your shoulder pain or prevent it if you do not yet have shoulder pain. The exercises will help you release your emotional issues surrounding the burdens you have to carry. Cast your burdens to God/the Universe and say affirmations for health that will create hope and joy for the future for your life. If you desire to have more hope and joy in your life you can do these foam roller exercises to open your shoulders and say affirmations that will invite these positive emotions in. Create Affirmations for Joy and Hope.
Personalize and Adjust the Foam Roller Exercises for Your Shoulder MusclesAs with all foam roller exercises you can adjust the amount of time you spend on each area. As you roll, stay as long as you like in one position, if your left side is tighter than your right side. Just make sure you do both sides equally to maintain your balance. Really notice your body and how it feels when you do the foam roller exercises for the shoulder muscles and the shoulder stretches. Open you heart to the message your shoulder area brings. B-r-e-a-t-h-e as you sink into the tight and sore spot. If it is too painful that you cannot breathe, ease up on the shoulder stretch, the movement or the pressure. The deep breathing is the signal to your body that you are in the relaxed state and eventually the muscle will release as long as you are able to deep breathe. Feel the pull and the shoulder stretch as you sink and roll into it. Breathe more deeply as you sink farther into the stretch. Let go. Let the tension go, let the stress go and let the muscle release. When the muscle releases, so may your emotions, your need to control. Let go of this need. Open yourself and your shoulder to let freedom, hope and joy in. Foam Roller Exercises to Open the Shoulder, the Shoulder Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons.I will give the foam roller exercises in two parts: First I will give you a brief description of the movement in writing for those of you who function best with your left, detail-oriented brain. Second is a short video of the movement. There is no voice-over on the video, so as you watch, I will force you to use your right brain, the sensing, feeling part of your brain. The right brain perceives images and spatial relationships. It is the part of the brain that you most often close down, in our left-brain, detail and language-oriented culture. (See Improving Your Body Balance is Improving Your Life Balance for more explanation of right brain vs. left-brain functions). No voice-over will also aid you in going inward when you do your foam roller exercises. Feel free to vary the exercise in any way as your intuition moves you! Do not perform these exercises if you have more than moderate pain in your back or shoulders!
Follow the pictures below for additional foam roller shoulder stretches. Just hold the shoulder stretch on the foam roller like a yoga pose, as you sink into the stretch and feel your shoulder, upper back and neck open up. After 20-30 seconds or so, try very small rolling movements to vary the pose slightly as you feel the need to open a slightly different area. Then try to raise your hips in a bridge position to see if that movement ads pressure to your sore area for even more opening. If that feels too hard, just lower yours hips again. Lower your arms and raise them again, to feel a different stretch. Experiment until you get it right for you.
May your path to self-discovery be enhanced by these foam roller exercises to open your shoulder muscles and shoulder stretches. May your journey towards body-mind-soul healing through self myofascial release begin! Related Foam Rolling Articles that You May Enjoy!:
Foam Roller Exercises for the Lower Body and Lower Back:
Foam Roller Exercises for the Upper Body and Upper Back:
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