Shoulder can be another extremely tough muscle to work out properly, whether or not we realize it. I see people working out their shoulder, maybe not incorrectly, but in ways that could lead to injury. This could be injuring the rotator cuff, or even just throwing out your back. Most shoulder exercises should be done sitting down, but if you really must do it standing up then there is really only one way to do so. With a squat rack.
- Set the safety bars at a height where when you bring your back into an arched tightened position, leaning slightly back, the bar sits on your upper chest.
- Make sure to leave the barbell on the safety bars, not the actual rack. The reason for this, is too many people don’t use the safety bars and hold the weight free, this causes temptation to cheat and go lower, squatting slightly with the weight then popping it up using momentum from your legs.
- Warm up slow. This is always important, especially for the rotator cuffs as they are prone to easy injury. Never load up to much weight to quickly. Too many people do not check their ego and just want to get to heavy weight as quick as possible.
- With a controllable weight, rep the weight for a few sets. Keep your elbows tucked in, and thrust the weight upwards and simultaneously backwards. DO NOT go straight up with the weight. At the top of the rep, the weight should be behind your head.
- Do not lock out your elbows. This is key for keeping time under tension. When locking your elbows out at the top of the rep, you take the tension off your shoulders. Bring the weight all the way up and back without locking out the elbows will complete the rep.
- Slowly lower the weight down for a 2-3 second deescalated rep. More muscle tares happen on the down stroke of the rep, as well the best way to get more growth is time under tension.
Getfitrich 