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Sample Content
Shoulders
From Chapter 6:
STRONGER ARMS AND UPPER BODY, by Sean Cochran and Tom House
Content Provided by: Human Kinetics Publishers
Chapter 6 provides a series of exercises for the
shoulder area, whose muscles generate many movements. The functions of
the deltoid are adduction, abduction, extension, and
flexion, as well as the medial and lateral rotation of the upper
arm.
A quick review of the shoulder's anatomy tells us that
the three heads of the shoulder's main muscle agonists (frontal deltoid,
rear deltoid, and lateral deltoid head) and the
antagonists (upper back and serratus) are used in many muscular actions.
The exercises you find in this chapter are oriented to the prime movers.
You probably can remember, or surmise, that the synergists (muscles that
are indirectly involved and that support the agonist in skeletal
movement) are also involved in the shoulder region's movements.
The primary synergists in the shoulder region are the
four muscles of the rotator cuff, which are called the teres minor,
supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and subscapularis. To
avoid injury and to maintain a good strength ratio among agonist,
antagonist, and synergist muscles, you must train all these muscles. We
highly recommend that prior to any prime-mover shoulder work you perform
the proper range-of-motion, flexibility, and joint-stabilization
exercises. And it is well worth your reviewing both the
information and exercises for ROM, flexibility, and stabilization before
proceeding.
The bottom line is that before you begin any upper
body prime-mover exercises, first do the proper facilitation of
range-of-motion, flexibility, and joint-stabilization work. This
provides you with a proper warm-up, helps prevent injury, and develops
the appropriate ratios of muscular balance in the system.
Before we delve into the shoulder exercises, let's
take a
look at what kinds of athletic actions would
involve the muscles of the shoulder. First, any striking or throwing of
an object creates tremendous amounts of rotational torque from this area
of the body. Striking a volleyball, swinging a bat, or throwing a
football all require flexion, extension,
and rotation of the shoulder region.
If you're an athlete looking to improve
performance in your sport, you would do well to review the biomechanical
actions used in your sport. Once you have reviewed the biomechanical
actions, determine what exercises are cross-specific (that
is, match the movements in your sport), and choose the exercise most
suitable to improve your performance. If you're a fitness
enthusiast or bodybuilder, you
would look
to develop muscular balance in the shoulder region and perhaps
size as well.
In chapter 5 we discussed the advantages, disadvantages, and
differences between using machines and free weights for exercise, and
these observations hold true for working with the shoulder area as well.
As with chest exercises, here
again a spotter is recommended for beginners or exercisers using
heavier loads.
One note of great importance is worth
repeating: remember to do your range-of-motion, flexibility, and
joint-stabilization exercises before proceeding to the prime-mover
exercises!
To see the exercises for the shoulder area, get your
copy today!
STRONGER ARMS AND UPPER BODY
Sean Cochran and Tom House
Paperback • 216 pages
ISBN 0-88011-977-2
$16.95 ($24.95 Cdn)
To order your copy of STRONGER ARMS AND UPPER BODY
click on the
link below (or copy the link to the address bar on your web browser):
Get Your Copy Today
Edited by Ray
Lauenstein. Posted October 2003
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