In our clinic we heavily utilize kettle bells in the treatment/rehabilitation of shoulder pain. We do this for several reasons:
1) It teaches your shoulder how to stabilize as a group. You have 4 rotators cuff muscles. When we need control in our shoulder, we need all 4 cuff muscles to work together. So why have we grown up doing those tired old band exercises for our shoulders?
2) Working your grip helps rehab the shoulder. A kettle bell naturally utilizes grip strength, otherwise you'd drop the weight. In the medical field we measure grip strength as an indicator of overall neurological health of your shoulder and arm. So working your grip is working your shoulders, especially when you can't raise your arm overhead due to pain.
3) Kettle bells teach you the best way to use your shoulder. When you fall out of ideal alignment while holding a kettle bell, your arm automatically starts shaking. So without thinking about it, it teaches you how to realign your shoulder and minimize the stress on your body.
QUICK TIP
Here's a quick trick I like using to warm up my shoulders before exercise (or as a rehab exercise on it's own). Pick up the heaviest kettle bell (or dumbell if you don't have one) that you can handle. Hold the kettle bell by your side (the way it naturally hangs) and rotate your arm left and right as far as it will go in either direction. This utilizes all of the strategies above to help rehab your shoulder by improving alignment and control of the rotator cuff. Hold for 30 seconds.
To have you shoulder checked out, please contact me at drscotthoar@gmail.com or dial 561.997.8898. To check out more visit www.Mobility-4Life.com
