Shoulder injuries are common in fight sports. They often require surgery and intense rehab that can sideline you from training for long periods of time. They happen most often when the arm is either strained to its widest range of motion or from direct impact. You can train to create resiliency against both before you suffer an injury by improving your shoulder range of strength.
We designed this shoulder prehab series to strengthen the shoulder through a wider range of motion.
The stronger and more pliable your shoulders are in a wider range of motion the better you can prevent shoulder injuries and improve the overall performance of your arm movements.
Consistently integrating this routine into your pre-workout warmups will help the integrity of the shoulder by
- Lubricating the shoulder joints
- Building support muscles around the shoulder joints
- Improving soft tissue strength and pliability, and
- Coordinating support with major muscle groups
The Movements
This series is made of of three movements
1. Arm Tornadoes
Tornadoes are a great place to start any shoulder warm up. They focus on the end range of movement within the shoulder rotation. This gives you more range strength in the arm for everything from duck-unders and snap downs for fighters to reducing tendonitis type injuries for general fitness and more whip strength through swing and throw motions for field sports like baseball and football. By end of this set you’ll feel more
- Lubrication in the shoulder joints
- Shoulder integrity to prevent rotator cuff and labrum injuries, and
- Rejuvenated soft tissue at the end of the range of motion.
When doing tornadoes with Willpower Bands. Make sure you:
- Face the anchor then step back until you have light tension in the band
- Hold the bands so the lassos are snug around your wrists
- Keep abs tight with upright posture, feet well grounded, shoulder width apart, and
- Keep arms straight with minimal bend at the elbow
Start with small circles. Gradually increase the circumference of motion as your joints start to feel more comfortable.
2. Fighters Bounce
Every fight sport athlete has their own pre-match warm up routine. There’s always some point where you are waking up the whole body by bouncing your feet and activating your limbs. This band exercise overloads the arm movement so that you can build strength and mobility at the ends of your shoulder motion range.
When doing the Fighters Bounce with Willpower Bands, make sure you:
- Face away from the anchor then step forward until you have light tension in the band
- Hold the bands so the lassos are snug around your wrists
- Keep abs tight with upright posture, feet well grounded, shoulder width apart, and
- Keep arms straight with minimal bend at the elbow
Start bouncing from foot to foot, pull the bands forward then lightly resist the tension as you let the bands pull your arms behind you to the end of your range.
3. Helicopters
This is an advanced movement that will take effort and patience to master. It’s a dynamic iso exercise that is meant to stabilize your shoulders while connecting with the larger muscle groups of your trunk. It’s great for anyone who has to lock up and grapple with an opponent while on their feet. This comes out of a wrestling tradition of training the body to handle the complex rotation and level change required to hit a duck under.
When doing the Helicopters with Willpower Bands, make sure you:
- Face the anchor then step forward until you have light tension in the band
- Hold the bands so the lassos are snug around your wrists
- Keep abs tight with upright posture, feet well grounded, shoulder width apart
- Keep shoulders locked in and arms straight with minimal bend at the elbow
- Allow for fluid rotation movement in your back while locking your hips and lower core in place for grounded feet
Okay. Ready to give this shoulder series a try? Hit play below.
Once you’re done. Give yourself a minute to feel out how this series has affected the way you move or helped you identify any areas of the shoulders that need close attention. Try adding this series after the Pallof Series in a pre-practice warmup. See if you start to feel a greater range of strength.
