Exercises To Strengthen The Shoulder If You Have It Injured

The shoulder is a joint surrounded by muscles and tendons, which can be torn. There are specific exercises that help strengthen, relieve pain and restore mobility to the entire area. We propose the stretches most recommended by physiotherapists.

The shoulder is a joint complex surrounded by muscles and tendons that form the rotator cuff. This supports the arm in its joint and helps the movement of the shoulder.

However, tendons can tear from overuse, injury, or wear and tear over the years.

shoulder tendinitis

An injury to the tendons in the shoulder can cause tendinitis. This is the swelling or tearing of these tissues, which occurs when one of the tendons breaks due to overload or injury. In both cases, there is usually pain, weakness, and stiffness when moving the shoulder.

To regain mobility and strengthen the muscles and tendons, rehabilitation with specific exercises is necessary, which is usually determined by a physiotherapist.

Exercises to strengthen injured shoulders

The following exercises can help stretch, strengthen muscles, and relieve shoulder pain. In addition, they are very useful to recover from an injury.

1. Pendulum. Bend your body forward so that your trunk is parallel to the ground. Let your injured arm dangle like a pendulum and gently begin to make circles. Little by little, make them bigger and bigger. Repeat 10 times.
2. Backstretch. Place the palm of the affected arm on the opposite shoulder. With the unaffected arm push the elbow and keep it pressed for a few seconds as far as you can. Do 10 repetitions.
3. Anterior shoulder stretch. Rest your arm on the corner of a wall by the wrist area. Place your body a few steps forward, leaving your arm behind. Stay in this position for a few seconds and do 10 repetitions.
4. Wall stretch. Stand 90 centimeters in front of a wall. Place your fingertips on it at head height. You see moving your hand up without leaving the wall as if your fingers were climbing a ladder. Repeat 10 times.
5. Stretch raising the hands on the back. Place the hand of the injured shoulder touching the waist from the back. From that position, he tries to join the two hands. If you can’t, lengthen as far as you can, without letting go of your back. Do 10 stretches.
6. Internal rotation exercises with an elastic band. Attach the band to a wall or trellis. Stand perpendicular to the wall, with your healthy arm close to it. With the injured arm, pull the tape, forming an angle of 90° towards the opposite side of the wall. Do 10 repetitions.
7. Band external rotation exercises. Stand perpendicular to the wall, this time with your affected arm close to it. Pull the elastic band out, maintaining a 90° position. Hold for a few seconds and repeat 10 times.
8. Push-ups against the wall. At a safe distance from a wall, he braces his hands against it, keeping his arms steady. Flex them as you bring your head closer to the wall. Go back to the start and do 10 push-ups.

Explanations

To take care of your shoulders, we recommend the following exercises

Exercise (Isometrics)

Standing up, you can use a door frame, a wall, or wherever it is easier for you to do the exercise as a tool to perform this exercise.

With your arm by your side, bend your elbow, with the palm of your hand facing us (big toe faces the ceiling) and position yourself right next to the tool you have decided to use so that it stops the movement, which will be trying to bring the forearm out. Otherwise, the tool will be positioned on the inside of your arm in a way that prevents your forearm from moving inward.

Hold for a few seconds and relax.

Exercise (shoulder extension lying)

For this exercise, you will need a bed as a tool.

The exercise consists of lying face down, leaving the shoulder off the bed so that the arm has the freedom to carry out the movement, which will be: starting from a 90° shoulder flexion, we bring the arm up until it is parallel to our body and perform several repetitions.

Exercise (flexion)

For this exercise, we can use any tool that is cylindrical and elongated which does not imply a greater weight load for us.

This exercise consists of taking the object with both hands, which are level with our shoulders. And once positioned, we proceed to bring the object up, causing flexion of the shoulders keeping elbows extended until our arms reach the height of our eyes. We do several repetitions.

Exercise (external rotation)

For this exercise, we position ourselves in a similar way to the previous one, but this time, the palm of the hand faces the ceiling and the elbows are bent.

To perform the exercise, we must turn our forearm on the side that we are going to work outwards, and the arm on the opposite side accompanies the movement.

Exercise (abduction)

Elbows extended, palms face down when holding the object, and remain in line with the shoulders.

The exercise consists of taking the object out and up on the side that we are going to work on, causing a separation of the arm with respect to our body.

Exercise (extension)

In this case, we bring our arms back together with the object, and once positioned there, we proceed to slightly separate our hands from the buttocks, causing an extension of our shoulders.

Exercise (flexion)

This exercise is very simple and consists simply of bringing our arm forward and upward with the elbow extended, causing our shoulder to flex, and performing several repetitions.

Exercise (extension)

Contrary to the previous exercise, with the arms parallel to our body, in this case, we will take the arm with the elbow extended backward and upwards.

Exercise (adduction and abduction)

This simple exercise consists of separating our arms from our body as if we wanted to make the gesture of flying and returning to the initial position again, performing several repetitions.

Exercise (elbow mobility)

With the arms parallel to our body, we will proceed to flex and extend the elbow performing several repetitions.

These simple exercises will help you keep your shoulders healthy, don’t hesitate to put them into practice.

I leave you some videos that will give you more information about exercises to do to take care of your shoulders.

As you can see, these exercises can be very effective in restoring shoulder mobility and strengthening it.

Of course, it is important to listen to the body. If stretching hurts, don’t force it. In this case, gradually relax until the sensation is pleasant.