This article will go through many of the best shoulder impingement exercises that you should be doing to help alleviate any pain or discomfort.
The shoulder is one of the most common areas that people suffer from pain due to overuse, and it’s easy for the shoulder to get out of alignment. This may be caused by a sudden injury or because we spend too much time with our arms in certain positions. It’s important to make sure you’re protecting your shoulders and getting your exercises in order so you can avoid any long-term effects on the health of these joints.
If your conditions need medical attention; DO NOT try these exercises to heal yourself without consulting your doctor.
What is Shoulder Impingement?
Shoulder impingement is a condition in which the rotator cuff muscle of the shoulder rubs against a bony surface. This happens because there’s too much space between the rim of the shoulder socket and the back of your arm.
You should always warm up your rotator cuff muscles to avoid injuries, check the article below to see the best warmups for rotator cuff:
7 Best Rotator Cuff Warm Up Exercises
If this happens, irritation can occur on that side of your bicep or brachialis muscles, or it can happen on either side depending on which nerve you have most irritated.
What Leads to Shoulder Impingement?
Shoulder impingement is when the bony surface of the scapula, or shoulder blade, gets caught in a groove on the acromion process of the scapula. This prevents easy movement through in front and behind in both your shoulder blades. It is common for this to happen when people have weak upper traps or they don’t have enough muscle mass on their back.
There are many ways you can avoid having impingement with some obvious ones like simply warming up prior to physical activity and avoiding overhead activities with your arms outstretched. These are not always enough; particularly if you get injured over time it can be difficult to avoid impingement altogether. Here’s why:
You naturally pull on your scapula when you do overhead activities, but if your muscles are weak then the tendons of your shoulder can be pulled on. Weakened muscles will not be able to transfer the force of pulling from the tendon over to the bone. The result is that there is more friction from the tendon rubbing around on bone due to a lack of counterforce from pulling from the muscle itself. Because of this friction, it increases pressure in that area which can lead to small tears in areas like tendons and muscles. This is what leads to impingement over time as small tears lead into larger ones that take away more surface area for nerves, tendons, etc. to have room to move on.
Best Shoulder Impingement Exercises
We’ve compiled a list of some of the best do-it-yourself shoulder impingement exercises. You can strengthen your rotator cuff muscles and reduce any stiffness or discomfort down there.
Here are the best shoulder impingement exercises:
Shoulder Press – this is a great one for people who want to keep their shoulders strong and healthy.
Seated External Rotation – often called just “External Rotations”, this exercise is excellent because it’s accessible and helps maintain mobility in the shoulder joint.
Push-Ups – This could be the most common exercise that you always see in gyms. It may seem simple, but it’s one of the best exercises you can do for your shoulder.
Hollow Holds (push-ups) – typical push-ups will help your chest, but doing them with the hollow hold technique helps build up the rotator cuff muscles in between your shoulder blades. This is especially great to do in conjunction with pull-ups to help keep your shoulders strong and healthy.
Face Pulls – these are excellent for moving away from any pain or tension that may be around your shoulder joint.
Our final recommendation for shoulder impingement exercises is to get a foam roller and roll out any knots or tightness you may have. This helps keep your shoulders loose and will help reduce any tension that could be stressing the rotator cuff muscles.
Check the best exercises you can do with a foam roller from the article below:
21 Foam Roller Exercises for Back, Hip and Neck Pain – Foam Roller Guide
Conclusion
We hope these shoulder impingement exercises help you feel better, alleviate your pain, and get back to feeling like yourself again!
You can also try to do yoga to relieve pain in your neck and shoulders:
7 Poses in Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain
Thank you for reading.
Also, if you want to help us, please share this image!
