The Shoulder Joint is Related to the Neck.
The Shoulder Joint is Related to the Neck.
Updated January 29, 2013.
The shoulder joint and the neck are both a part of the upper body. The shoulder joint is located very near the neck. Because the musculoskeletal system works in a chain reaction fashion, protecting the shoulder joint from injury will assist or enable the neck to remain pain free.
Muscles Work in Pairs
Updated January 29, 2013.
All muscles work in pairs to provide movement and stability to the areas they affect. The pairs are located opposite to one another. For example, there are muscles in the front of the shoulders that bring them closer toward the center of the body. You might feel the effect of this when you have been hunched over your computer for many hours. There are also muscles on the back of the shoulder that open the shoulders away from one another, often providing a good stretch.
Updated January 29, 2013.
The biggest muscles that work the shoulder are the pectoralis and the latissimus dorsi muscles. Their job is to move the arm. One thing they do really well is to turn the arm inward. Because the musculoskeletal system works in a chain reaction fashion, when the arm rotates inward, it takes the shoulder with it. As this happens, the muscles at the front of the shoulder tighten, while the muscles of the upper back, especially the rhomboids, become overstretched and weak.
The resultant picture is:
Updated January 29, 2013.
While the pecs and the lats are primarily movers of the arm, the rhomboids, along with another group of muscles known as the SITS muscles, provide stability to the shoulder joint. So as the pecs and lats have worked hard to rotate the arm inward and the rhomboids in the upper back have become weak, there is a loss of stability in the shoulder joint. Those strong pecs and lats amplify movement, while the weak rhomboids sacrifice the anchoring necessary to prevent the arm from moving beyond its range of safety.
This makes for a vulnerability to shoulder injury. A good way to prevent injury is to do strength training for the upper body, and include the rhomboids. If you pinch your shoulders together, you are using the rhomboid muscles.
Updated January 29, 2013.
The shoulder joint and the neck are both a part of the upper body. The shoulder joint is located very near the neck. Because the musculoskeletal system works in a chain reaction fashion, protecting the shoulder joint from injury will assist or enable the neck to remain pain free.
Muscles Work in Pairs
Updated January 29, 2013.
All muscles work in pairs to provide movement and stability to the areas they affect. The pairs are located opposite to one another. For example, there are muscles in the front of the shoulders that bring them closer toward the center of the body. You might feel the effect of this when you have been hunched over your computer for many hours. There are also muscles on the back of the shoulder that open the shoulders away from one another, often providing a good stretch.
Updated January 29, 2013.
The biggest muscles that work the shoulder are the pectoralis and the latissimus dorsi muscles. Their job is to move the arm. One thing they do really well is to turn the arm inward. Because the musculoskeletal system works in a chain reaction fashion, when the arm rotates inward, it takes the shoulder with it. As this happens, the muscles at the front of the shoulder tighten, while the muscles of the upper back, especially the rhomboids, become overstretched and weak.
The resultant picture is:
- kyphosis with forward head posture
- tight muscles in the front of the shoulder
- weak muscles in the upper back
Updated January 29, 2013.
While the pecs and the lats are primarily movers of the arm, the rhomboids, along with another group of muscles known as the SITS muscles, provide stability to the shoulder joint. So as the pecs and lats have worked hard to rotate the arm inward and the rhomboids in the upper back have become weak, there is a loss of stability in the shoulder joint. Those strong pecs and lats amplify movement, while the weak rhomboids sacrifice the anchoring necessary to prevent the arm from moving beyond its range of safety.
This makes for a vulnerability to shoulder injury. A good way to prevent injury is to do strength training for the upper body, and include the rhomboids. If you pinch your shoulders together, you are using the rhomboid muscles.
