Friday, June 25, 2010

Using Underground Strength Techniques

Have you ever wondered how people get their shoulders so contoured and shapely? Well wonder no more.

This article will explain the anatomy and physiology of the shoulder and teach you how to properly condition the shoulder so you can have BOMBPROOF shoulders.

Most people believe that a pushup is merely assuming a prone position and lowering their body to the floor by whatever means possible and then forcing oneself back up at whatever effort is neccessary to complete the movement.

These commonly held beliefs also apply to shoulder development.

By reading this article you will understand why typical should exercises like DB side raise, DB overhead press, DB front raises are somewhat effective, but highly inefficient. Watch the video to get an idea of out of the box shoulder exercises.

In order for one to condition the shoulder complex with efficiency all six of these muscle groups need to be targeted:

1 – Trapezius
2 – Deltoid
3 – Infraspinatus
4 – Supraspinatus
5 – Teres Minor
6 – Subscapularis

How we target muscles will determine the nature of the adaptive response that occurs within the muscle.

Bigger does not mean better, faster or even stronger.

Developmental success is relative to what our muscular needs may be. We must train to meet our environmental demands.

Let’s briefly look at anatomy and physiology of the shoulder complex in terms of muscle location and action:

1) Trapezius: Most superficial muscle of the shoulder. Provides support to head and neck. This is where we hold all of our tension.

The trapezius muscle elevates the scapula, draws head back, adducts scapula, and braces shoulder

2) Deltoids: Thick powerful muscle that caps the shoulder joints that abducts, flexes and extends the humerus. The principle action of the deltoid is abduction of the arm at the shoulder joint.

This is what you can expect when you walk into most health clubs as ” Proper Training Technique.”

Overhead Dumbell press
Dumbbell side raise
Dumbbell rear deltoid fly
Dumbbell front raises

The truth is, these exercises, although somewhat effective, are highly inefficient.

3) Rotator Cuff: 4 of the 9 shoulder muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the shoulder. The rotator cuff allows the shoulder to function through wide ranges of motion.

Effective shoulder workouts will train the rotator cuff by resisted stabilization of the axial skeleton and resisted humeral movement in all skeletal planes. Repetitive shoulder exercises such as dumbbell military presses can cause supraspinatus injury.

Proper stretching can help minimize possible injury.

Now that we have a foundational understanding of the shoulder complex, let’s move our intention toward training it properly. The human body was designed to move in 3 planes of motion. These planes make up movement.

The skeleton can operate in a sagittal plane, frontal plane or a transverse plane.

An effective training program must address all the planes of movement to be efficient.

The most effective movement will occur when origin and insertion move closer together, brace or to act on the attached bones.

The type of contraction will determine whether the action is one of stability, acceleration or deceleration.

Stability occurs when a group of muscles contract isometrically to hold the skeleton in a certain position.

Acceleration happens when a group of muscles contract to produce a concentric force thus acting on the skeletal system to produce movement.

Deceleration happens when a group of muscles contract eccentrically to slow down a skeletal system in motion.

There are so many check points that go into effective shoulder conditioning. In summary, remember to train the shoulder in all skeletal planes and use all forms of muscle contraction.

Think Outside The Box on every level!

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