All those who have had shoulder problems, raise their hands. Ouch!! I saw that grimace. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint like the hip joint. Unlike the hip, however, the shoulder is much more shallow and is held in place mostly by the muscles.

The main bones making up the shoulder include the scapula or shoulder blades, clavicle and humorous, which is the upper bone of the arm. The whole shoulder is attached to the torso by only one joint on the clavicle called the sternoclavicular joint. Amazing, isn’t it?

The scapulae are unique because of their attachment point… they don’t have one. The shoulder blades lie on the back and due to this lack of attachment have a great deal of mobility, making it even more important to use the muscles to stabilize the area.

The two most important stabilizers are the serratus interior and the trapezius because they have the most influence on the position and movement of the scapula.

Other important muscles include the rhomoids, levatar scapulae and latissimus dorsi.

What do healthy shoulder blades look like? Ideally, they will lie flat on the back without any edges sticking out. Now, we’re all built differently so there will be degrees of this flatness, depending on the person.

Normal shoulder motion involves a coordinated rhythm between movement of the shoulder blade on the chest wall and movement of the ball in the shoulder socket. If there is an abnormality of the scapular position, it can effect the function of the shoulder joint leading to pain and/or injury.

Though the shoulder blades move with the arms, it is important to keep the shoulder blades slightly connected throughout movement. This is done by thinking of the shoulder blades gently sliding down the back and toward one another in a ‘V’ position.
A simple exercise to increase strength of the muscles surrounding the scapula is;

Lie on the floor on your stomach, legs long and arms stretched out to sides away from the body like a cross. Abdominals should be pulled in and the pelvis slightly tilted under. Keeping the shoulder blades stable, lift the arms off the floor about 3 inches. Now draw the shoulder blades down and together, lifting the arms a little higher. Relax the shoulder blades, then place the arms back down on the floor. Repeat 2 more times, then try the same thing with the thumbs pointed up to the ceiling. If you have neck discomfort, place a rolled up towel or small pillow under your forehead. If the lower back bothers you, place a pillow underneath your pelvis.

As simple as this exercise seems, it works the muscles deep within the upper back. I have had success in building strength for my clients in their upper backs in a relatively short period of time making it much easier for them to ‘shoulder their burdens.

Mary Ann Carlson is owner of The Pilates Studio. You can reach her at 541-890-7703.