5 Shoulder Health Exercises to Keep You Strong For Life

Your shoulders are the most mobile joints in our body. They allow you to play the sports you love, pick up your kids, carry groceries into the house, and do many of the other daily activities you enjoy. Unfortunately, a large amount of mobility comes with a large amount of instability. 

Shoulders can easily become injured through overuse and strain. Common shoulder injuries include shoulder instability, rotator cuff tear, frozen shoulder, overuse injuries, muscle strain, and arthritis. Any of these injuries can cause pain, inflammation, and reduced ability to do the activities you want and need to do. 

Maintaining healthy shoulders is an important part of your overall health. The good news is that shoulder health can be integrated into your daily life in ways you might enjoy. Below you will find a list of fun shoulder health workout activities to help you maintain and even increase shoulder strength. 

Our Favorite Shoulder Health Exercises

1. Rock climbing. A good combination of upper body strengthening and range of motion, rock climbing allows you to improve shoulder health by strengthening the muscles surrounding your shoulder joint and maintaining the large amount of motion your shoulder has.
2. Yoga. Whether a gentle yin class or a sweaty power vinyasa flow, yoga can gently increase and maintain your shoulders’ range of motion and mobility. Depending on the style of yoga you choose, bearing weight into your arms will allow you to increase your functional strength and tone your arms, shoulders, and back. 
3. Weight Lifting. Lifting weights allows you to target specific muscles to increase the strength within the shoulder joint, prevent injuries in the future, and improve your shoulder health so you can do all the activities you love. 
4. Canoeing/Kayaking. Whether you’re canoeing on a lake or kayaking white-water rapids, your shoulders are working hard to drag you through the water and keep you stable, increasing your range of motion and overall strength. 
5. Racquet Sports. Sports like tennis and racquetball require quick actions from your shoulder muscles, building your reaction time, increasing your range of motion, and building up the muscles within your rotator cuff. 

Engineered Sports is a sports physical therapy facility. We are dedicated to helping athletes and people who lead active lifestyles train their bodies and improve their health. Contact us or visit one of our locations for assistance with performance physical therapy, work conditioning, and more.