How To Keep Your Shoulders Strong And Healthy!

You love the look of a well-developed shoulder, but all that weight work may cause more harm than good. Here’s how to make sure your body’s most mobile joint stays strong and healthy.

- Sommer Robertson-Abiad

THE SHOULDER is the most flexible joint in the body, but it’s also one of the most injured. Blame its hypermobility (no other joint can move 360 degrees) and underlying instability. But your workout routine may also be causing trouble. “Shoulder injuries are often the result of imbalances between the chest and back muscles, particularly the pectoralis major, the infraspinatus, and deltoid muscles,” says Alvin Brown, an osteopath and clinical director of the Centre for Healing and Personal Potential in Ontario, Canada. These imbalances are often linked with tightness and inflexibility. Poor lifting techniques can also cause problems. The most common shoulder injuries include tendinitis, bursitis, and tears. If you have a loss of full range of motion above 90 degrees and pain when moving your arm around, you’re most likely suffering from one of these injuries, Brown says. Here’s how to ID the issue you’re dealing with and what you can do to prevent it from happening in the first place.