COACH: I JUST HAD SHOULDER SURGERY- WHEN CAN I OVERHEAD SHOULDER PRESS?
I was at a Conference yesterday, speaking with a great guy named, Lynel.
Lynel had shoulder surgery last year to fix a labrum tear and asked me when he would be ready to begin shoulder pressing again so he can begin building and restoring mass in his shoulders!
Now, as men, we get a little bit flipped out when we feel our muscle disappearing in exchange for flabby skin. * I would say women feel the same way :)
So what did I tell him? I told him that " I HATE SHOULDER PRESSING".
This was not good news...
But it is true!
Why do I hate it?
Because for most people that do shoulder pressing, they typically are at an extremely high risk for injury and shoulder pain. Shoulder pressing often limits joint mobility and total shoulder range of motion.
But.. as you know.. there are never any absolutes with me.. and there is a group that can perform these safely.
Those that possess enough SHOULDER FLEXION.
What is shoulder flexion and how do you know if you have it?
Lift your arms straight up in the air and see if they naturally can sit slightly behind your ears, or, do they feel like they are falling forward or are on a forward angle.
If this is the case, just simply lifting up the dumbbells to get in a positive shoulder pressing position will put you at risk for injury.
You must have proper range of motion in order to get the strength and mass benefits while reducing injury risk.
Lynel was somebody, when I tested him, that did not yet have the motion. If you do not have it, you can train for it.
Focus on stretching your pec, doing doorway stretching of your pec to get external shoulder rotation and you can even use a dowel against the wall to feed your arm/shoulder back into 90 degree external rotation.
So.. if you have motion, press away. If you do not, stay away.
If you do not have it, train to get it.
If you struggle to improve it, focus on building the deltoid muscles, traps, and rotator cuff to compensate!#trainlikeapro
Dana Cavalea
Dana Cavalea is the World Champion Director of Strength and Conditioning & Performance of the New York Yankees.
Currently, he is a High Performance Speaker & Consultant to Pro Athletes, Entrepreneurs, Business Executives, and Workforces on lifestyle strategies to reduce stress, improve work/life integration, and most importantly improve daily performance /outcomes.
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