Before you jump into the pool this summer, or hop out onto the court and start swinging a racket, a little bit of preparation will go a long way towards keeping your shoulders feeling strong and preventing tweaks, strains or tears.

   Sports like swimming, tennis and volleyball put various stresses and rotational forces on the shoulder that are not part of most normal day-to-day routines. To prep for those summer sports, start training your  shoulders now with some tips from Nimble Fitness.

  First, we’ll begin with range of motion. You might have the most jacked, muscular shoulders in the world, but without a good functional ROM, or range of motion, you won’t be able to throw a ball, generate racquet speed or pull yourself effectively through the water.

Nimble method :

We use tissue & mobility drills to increase functional ROM of your shoulders—and we do it before exercise! Use a myofascial tool like a foam roller or Triggerpoint ball to help release your muscle and fascial tissue; this tissue tends to conform to our postural “set point” and can limit shoulder ROM.

Specific spots to target include: your Latissimus, especially up towards the shoulder attachments; your pectoral muscles, especially around the fascial “hub” that connects your biceps, pecs, and anterior deltoids (front of shoulder); and your trapezius, which runs up the groove between your shoulder blade and your spine. Dig in to your muscles and fascia firmly, rolling first with the grain of the tissue, and then across it. Give your self 10-15 min for these drills, especially if you’re experiencing soreness.

Now, If you are already pretty mobile (or hyper-mobile!) through the shoulders and have good shoulder ROM, you can skip to step 2, which is…

Shoulder stability and activation. If you don’t activate the key stabilizing muscles in your shoulders, integrating them with the “mover” muscles you’ll be using in sports, you’re taking postural imbalances (not to mention inhibition from any old injuries) into live action…not likely to end well.

 In general, our smaller muscles in the front of the shoulder get overworked and tight, and the deep stabilizing muscles in the back of the shoulder get underworked and weak, especially when we sit for long periods at work.

Nimble Method :

We use activation exercises—before exercise or summer sports!—to energize and tone shoulder stabilizers & rotators.

Go to the attached video for our quick shoulder prep drills for summer. These prep drills include shoulder extension, abduction, adduction and rotation, and require your shoulders to stabilize effectively through several typical sports-based moves.

  These drills should take another 10-15 min before you take the court or jump in the pool. Feel free to do a couple of sets, 10-15 reps each.

Enjoy your summer!

Keith