Chronic bad posture—desk-bound people working in front of a computer
screen or teachers forced to stand in front of a black board all day
long are especially vulnerable—can seriously undermine your workout
routine and may result in you developing a particularly insidious
condition called upper-cross syndrome.Upper-cross syndrome is highly visible and generally easy to
spot in everyone except ourselves—the elderly routinely suffer from
it—but then so do swimmers, cyclists and weight lifters. The signs are
obvious—misalignment, your head is a step in front of the rest of your
body, round shoulders and an obvious curve in the neck and upper-back.
“Simply put, upper-cross syndrome is the weakening and
lengthening of the posterior upper back and neck muscles and the
coincident tightening and shortening of the opposing anterior pectoral
(chest) and neck muscles. The correction of this problem involves the
strengthening of the weakened posterior musculature and stretching of
the tight anterior musculature,” says Oakville-based personal trainer
Kevin Ferrell, national champion bodybuilder in the super heavyweight
category and a member of Team Canada slated to compete in the World
Championship in the Czech Republic this fall.
A good stretching program is essential to prevent and correct
upper-cross syndrome, notes Ferrell. The pectoral muscles and anterior
shoulder muscles must be stretched often, especially following training
involving those muscle groups.
“Stretches must be held for at least 15-20 seconds to be
effective and should be performed after muscles are warm (i.e.
following warm-up sets and especially post workout). The goal is to
gradually deepen the stretch over time to prevent tightening and to
lengthen the muscles. An example of a popular stretch is the ‘doorway
stretch’, which can, as the name suggests, be easily performed in a
doorway by placing the arm against the door frame and leaning into the
doorway to stretch the pectoral and anterior deltoid areas.”
Ferrell suggests routinely, “at least once per hour,” pulling
the shoulders and neck back, hold and squeeze the upper back muscles, a
practice that, in addition to maintaining proper posture, helps stretch
tightened anterior muscles while activating posterior muscles.
“In the gym, trainers should focus on exercising and
strengthening the numerous upper-back muscles to maintain balance with
the pectorals and anterior deltoids. It is common for many trainers to
focus on ‘showy’ body parts that can be seen from the front (in the
mirror) and neglect the back muscles. Lots of bench pressing and
shoulder pressing with less attention paid to the back and posterior
deltoids will create a strength imbalance and can lead to upper-cross
syndrome.”
He recommends various forms of rowing, using cables, machines,
dumbbells and barbells to focus on the upper and mid-back musculature.
“When employing exercises to correct upper-cross syndrome,
specific attention should be paid to maximizing the contraction of the
posterior muscles at the midpoint of the movement,” he advises.
According to Ferrell, when it comes to training the shoulder complex, people tend to make common mistakes:
- Using too much weight.
- Improper exercise form (often from using too much weight.)
- Overtraining.
- Failing to focus on all areas of the shoulder equally.
Internationally celebrated Australian bodybuilder Bev Francis,
multiple world power lifting champion, international track and field
star and the first woman to bench press 300 pounds, says that most
people make the mistake of, “working too hard on presses.”
Francis, who operates Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in Syosset,
New York recommends doing variations on the lateral raise, which she
describes as the most important exercise for shoulders, but cautions
against involving the traps to assist in performance.
“In other words, the shoulders themselves should not lift
during these movements, only the upper arm should rotate through the
shoulder joint. This is difficult to learn at first. The rear delt
needs a lot of work also. Front delt is usually the least problem,
especially if the athlete does bench pressing. My favorite shoulder
exercise is a one-arm dumbbell lateral raise, performed while holding a
stable object with the other hand, keeping the body aligned, and
leaning towards the working side. This position makes it easier to
delete trap involvement. Shoulders should be trained every three to
four days!”
Kevin Ferrell Recommends the Following Shoulder Exercises:
Internal/External Rotation—Elbow 90 degrees (forearm parallel to floor)
This exercise is most easily performed using a cable apparatus, bands or rubber tubing:
- Internal rotation: When using cables for example, grasp the handle with the forearm parallel to the floor and elbow bent at 90 degrees.
- Start with the cable and handle out to the side of the body.
- Pull toward the middle of the body and then return to the starting
position, all the while keeping the elbow in tight to the body.
- External rotation: Start with the cable crossing in front of
the body, the handle at the midpoint of the body (reverse position of
internal rotation).
- Rotate the handle to the outside of the body (again keeping the elbow in) before returning to the starting position.
As an alternative, this exercise can be done using light dumbbells while lying on your side on a bench.
Rotation—Elbow 90 degrees (upper arm parallel to floor):
Another good rotation exercise can be done with the upper arm out to
the side of the body and parallel to the floor, elbow bent at 90
degrees and forearm perpendicular to the floor (envision a right-hand
turn signal). This exercise is most easily performed using a light
dumbbell or weight plate.
- Keeping the upper arm fixed in place, rotate the forearm forward in
front of the body until approximately parallel with the floor or
slightly past (only as far as it is comfortable).
- Reverse the rotation moving the forearm past the initial starting position to a point slightly behind the head.
Both of these exercises should be performed with strict form using a lighter weight. A repetition range of 12-15 is sufficient.
Form is critical to avoid injuring the notoriously unstable shoulder
complex, especially for overhead pressing movements, which increase
vulnerability.
“Slowly lowering the weight under control and avoiding any
bouncing at the bottom before pressing back overhead is recommended.
For those who experience shoulder pain, or to prevent eventual shoulder
problems, it is a good idea to limit the range of motion when
performing pressing movements. The weight need only be lowered to a
point that is approximately parallel to the ears and pressed to just
short of lockout to sufficiently stimulate the deltoid muscles.
Lowering the weight below ear level puts unnecessary stress on the
joint and locking out at the top involves the triceps more than the
deltoids. Keeping the weight within the middle range of the movement
maintains constant tension on the deltoid muscles and limits the stress
on the joint,” Ferrell cautions.
He suggests avoiding behind-the-neck presses, preferring
instead the military press, dumbbell press or various machine presses
and urges some focus on the frequently neglected rotator cuff muscles.
The shoulders receive indirect development from exercises targeting other muscle groups, says Ferrell.
“For example, chest exercises such as various forms of bench
pressing and flye movements secondarily involve the shoulder muscles to
a great degree. Back and arm exercises will also recruit the shoulder
muscles. Those who train each of these other body parts on days
separate from shoulder training may effectively be training the
shoulders a number of times per week possibly leading to overtraining.
Therefore, it is a good idea to be aware of this fact and limit the
number of exercises and sets performed directly for shoulders.” |
