You hear us saying it. Everytime the bar goes over our heads someone is yelling out “Active Shoulders”. But why? What exactly does it mean?
Well first of all let’s talk about reasons. Increased stability in the joint creates one less fail point along the kenetic chain of any shoulder inclusive movement. This increased stability will also significantly if not completely remove chance of injury. In most instances, the shoulder doesn’t suffer a single traumatic injury during Crossfit as commonly as chronic overuse injuries. As we already know, things get hurt when they are out of alignment under load. Keeping them in alignment keeps you safe. Finally, with proper active shoulder technique you will be able to comfortably stabilize larger loads on the joint.
So what is it?
It all starts with understanding the anatomy of the shoulder. The shoulder joint is comprised of two main bones. The Scapula (aka Shoulder Blade) and the Humerus. The shoulder is a ball in socket joint. Unlike the hip however, the socket is much shallower and mobile. Meaning you can move the scapula up, down, back and forward. This dramatically increases the range of motion available in the shoulder but decreases the stability of the joint. Since this joint is inherently less stable, it comes equipped with muscles ligaments and tendons that keep the joint tight and happy. When the should becomes out of alignment under load, these tendons and ligaments fight to keep the shoulder in the socket and secure. Doing this repeatedly can leave the general region feeling hot and achy. This phrase “active shoulders” simply means actively pressing the ball into the socket creating a supportive tension in order to provide stabilization. This gives muscular support to the shoulder, rather than allowing your skeleton to hang with tremendous pressure.
So what does it look like when we have “active shoulders?” To put it simply, you are moving the joint against the weight. When pressing weight overhead, the shoulders are activated when shrugging shoulders up closer to the ears, further pressing up towards the weight so that the ball of the shoulder is pressed securely into the socket. When posting up on a dip, the shoulder is pressing down towards your body weight while expanding and spreading the chest to tighten and press the ball to the socket. If hanging from a bar, shoulders are actively being pressed down away from the ears and towards the hanging body weight.
Active Shoulders=Happy Steph
Soft Shoulder=Solemn Steph