Resources for Shoulder Exercises, for Surfers

[pjgazele]

Hi all. I’m interested in hearing of online resources and or books related core strength exercises for surfer’s shoulders and back. Particularly for solving shoulder impingement and rotator cuff issues as a result of paddling. I know there’s a ton of stuff out there but interested in knowing of any success stories and the solutions.

Thanks, Paul

[oldmansurfer]

I am currently suffering from rotator cuff problems. I am not using any online sources but have been going to physical therapy sessions in person. My physical therapist has given me a good idea about the whole problem. So I guess if you have a problem it is because there is impingement of the rotator cuff muscles in the area confined by your humerus, scapula and clavicle. This will be made worse by anything that drops your shoulder forward and down so you want exercises that strengthen the muscles that pull your shoulder back and up. In addition whenever you are having pain then there is swelling and it is much easier to damage your rotator cuff because it is larger due to swelling. So take it easy when you have acutely aggravated it. For surfing your entire shoulder blade needs to be mobile so stretching regularly helps this. I have not surfed yet since I severely aggravated my rotator cuff back in the beginning of the year but I am making progress in that direction slowly with minor setbacks due to things I have to do. Do stuff that doesn't cause you pain either while you do it or after you do it. In my case I will often try some other exercise only to find that a few hours later my shoulder is getting sore (a minor setback usually). I do regular exercises and stretches that help with core strength and have been doing them from before I restarted surfing. I do dumbells which I cut back to 10 pounds from 15 after the shoulder injury. My problems are not as a result of paddling. I'll let everyone know when I go back in the water and how it goes but for now it's all speculation as to how effective it has been. Good luck on your problem

[oldmansurfer]

As far as core strengthening exercises, it's perhaps difficult for me to judge how much they help because I have always had a strong core. But here is what I do. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
1) Lay on side and do sideways leg raises. I raise my leg sideways as far as it will go without too much effort then bring it back down then bring knee up to chest then back . I started at 10 but now do 20 both sides
2) Lay on back and bring one knee up getting foot as close to butt as possible hands at sides I raise the other leg keeping it as straight as possible. I also started at 10 and now do 20 both legs.
3) Still on back I put both legs straight and raise one up keeping it straight and do both legs 20 times
4) still on back I raise both legs 6 inches then spread them sideways as far as I can go then back together then bring my knees up to my chest to relax a little not letting feet touch the ground then repeat 10 times
5) Standing I roll my head/neck around in a circle 5 times each way
6) Standing I push my hips forward and move them around in a circle 10 times each direction
7) Standing I move my knees around in a circle 10 times each direction
I stand with my feet wide apart and crouch down over one knee while dropping my knee on the other leg then without coming back upright I move my body over the other knee and drop the original one to ward the ground. I started at 10 and now do 20.

On Tuesday and Friday I do all the standing exercises above and also do these core plus balancing exercises
Standing I bring one leg up forward as far as it can go and then back down without touching the ground then I bring it up sideways as far as it can go and back down without touching the ground then I bring my knee up to my chest and back down without touching the ground, then I move my leg backwards as far as ti will go and bring it back. If I touch the ground then it is okay but I will repeat the whole process if I don't complete those 4 maneuvers without touching the ground. And I do 10 for each leg. Rarely I can do 10 without touching the ground . I also do dumbbell weights on Tuesday and Thursday.

I would say those exercises keep my core fairly strong. I 'll let you know what I am doing for my shoulder in another post

[steveylang]

I found this book online (haven't gone through it myself yet though):
http://surfingdoctors.com/wp-content/up ... oulder.pdf

[jasedrummer]

I had a rotator cuff impingement 4 years ago....

First thing - stop surfing, it will only get worse until you get it sorted properly.

I went to a sports physio, not just a normal physio - they are more sympathetic and geared towards getting you back into the water ASAP. First thing she did was examine my shoulder alignment - my right shoulder was a couple of inches higher than the left when viewed from behind. She then massaged the back muscles for a good 20 mins or so and I could feel it all loosen up almost straight away.
I saw her for another 5 sessions where she showed me rotator cuff strengthening exercises and lots of stretches.
All in all it took me about 2-3 months to get back to surfing.
I do a lot of strengthening exercises and weights but now always do a lot of stretching afterwards which I cannot emphasise the importance of. Basically put it is tightening of your muscles that causes misalignment and that’s what causes the impingement.
It also does take a lot of trial and error to find the right stretches - I hate to advertise here but I also found something called a “back buddy” - it’s basically an S shaped piece of plastic with knobs on - you find the muscles that are tight and apply pressure - really works for me...

Anyway, it did take some time before I could be without any pain in my shoulder at all - sometimes just doing no exercise for a day or so would then make the shoulder hurt. I reckon it was about 12-18 months before I got to the point where I wasn’t always thinking about it as a problem especially when I was back in the water. Nowadays I barely get a twinge - if it does start coming on a few stretches and I know I can fixit again.

[jaffa1949]

Good call. Always better to fix an injury properly than take the risky prospect of a surf.
Always seek any of your medical team who hopefully understanding Surfing. Landbound and clueless, find another!

[oldmansurfer]

There are different kinds of rotator cuff problems. Mine includes acromioclaviclular arthritis. So I have arthritis in the space between the acromial process of the scapula and the clavicle. This gives me pain as well as the rotator cuff problem. It also alters the way I use the shoulder because it hurts from arthritis. I have also had the problem of not being able to quit working and have to do things that aggravate my problem here and there. When I first started doing physical therapy all was going well and then I worked in the yard shoveling out my compost pile. The mechanics of how I did that was bad. I lowered my shoulder and this made it impinge on the rotator cuff. I made it far worse than when I started physical therapy. This was a major setback but I guess the good news was it was enough for me to get an MRI. Anyway each shoulder is different and will respond to different types of things due to lots of different variables.... in other words the shoulder is a very complex part of your body. If you can avoid it don't do things that aggravate your problem. In addition stuff that didn't aggravate your shoulder might do so if it is already aggravated so take it easy when you are having problems. That has been difficult because I am self employed and people count on me being able to keep working.

I have been doing weights all along. Prior to my severe aggravation of my problem I used 15 pound dumbbells but I cut it back to 10 since then and stop whenever I have an aggravation of it. The dumbbell exercises I do on Tuesdays and Fridays . I start with a standing press so I bring the weights up to my shoulder and push upward when I reach the top I bring the weight down behind my head and then back up so it's like 2 different presses and I do ten of them. When my shoulder is aggravated these are very painful so I just don't do weights. When I am not sore these seem to really make my shoulder feel good. I do ten repetitions

then I do half squats. Holding the weights at my sides I squat down almost touching the weights to the floor my upper leg is about parallel to the floor at that point then I stand back up and bring the weights simultaneously up to my shoulders while pulling my shoulders back and up so it's a double exercise. I do 20 of those

The I do combined curls and toe raises so with the dumbbell by my side I simultaneously raise up the dumbbell on the same side that I do the toe raise just straight up without rotating my wrist. So I am doing a toe raise and standing on my toes on one foot and the same side hand a curl. Then I do the other side an do 20 repetitions

Then I bend over at the waist and put the weights on the ground and from that position I raise the weights up to my chest and back down the pull them back to my waist and then back down. I do 10 repetitions

Then I lay on the ground on my back and with my elbows at my sides I push the weights upwards staying near my waist level and back down. I do 20 repetitions. Prior to my shoulder problem I used to do explosive presses where I pushed so hard my shoulders came off the ground but that aggravates my problem. In fact if my problem is aggravated this exercise will hurt but then I quit doing weights when my shoulder is aggravated.

Then while still laying on my back I bring the weights over my head and then back up. I used to go back down to my sides before but that part aggravated my shoulder so I only go as afar as it doesn't hurt. This mimics paddling a little but I do both arms at the same time

Then I stand up and this is just like a wind down exercise. I do curls across my chest so one weight is brought up toward my opposite ear and then back down and then the other side. I do ten reps not sure why I do this but it makes me feel good so I do.

Then on the days that I don't do weights. I do shoulder stretches and resistance band exercises.

I bring my elbow up and grab it with my other hand then pull it toward the opposite shoulder. This one is very painful so I don't push it.

I stand by a wall with my side to the wall and run my hand up the wall as far as it will go then put my hand behind my head and lean into the wall

Then I stand in a doorway and put my hand at the top corner on the same side as the hand and step through the doorway

Then I have some fabric (I use a pilowcase) but you can use almost anything and sore shoulder over my head I grab the fabric behind my back with my good arm/hand and pull down

All these stretches I hold for about 30 seconds and just do them once a day (every day so also on the days I do weights)

Then I do stretch band exercises. I bought this set of bands (Tribe brand) starting with the lightest I do these exercises. They come with a piece that you can shut in a door to hold the band in place. So I place that piece about elbow high and put on handle around the doorknob then go out to where there is sufficient stretch for the amount of exercise I want. I put a rolled up shirt or towel under my elbow and hold in place for the duration of this particular exercise. i\It keeps me from cheating and lifting my elbow out. standing with the door toward my good side and my bad arm across my lower chest at elbow height I pull the handle back horizontal to the floor to a point about 45 degrees past perpendicular to my chest. then I go back to where my arm is across my chest again. I do this 20 to 30 times one to three times a day depending on how I feel. I do the same exercise on my good shoulder.

then I get both handles and pull straight back so my shoulders are going a little back and I do 40 repetitions of this one to three sets a day.

Then I place the stopper in the top of the door and starting with my arms straight out I pull down to my sides being careful not to go past my hips. I do 30 to 40 reps and 1 to 3 sets

There are a whole bunch of other exercises I add in from time to time but if my shoulder is aggravated I don't do them till my shoulder is good for a while

Then I do another set of 40 pulling straight back with my elbows down toward my sides so my shoulders are going slightly back. similar to the one with the stopped at elbow height. 1 to 3 sets

Then I take the stopper off and stand on the back and raise my hands up sideways but only to a 45 to 60 degree angle from perpendicular to the floor 10 times (because it is relatively new) 1 to 3 sets

I have a pillow case with a tennis ball in it. I use it for my stretches but also to work on any sore spots in my shoulder. So I stand close to the wall and hang the ball down and lean into it. I try to find a sore spot and lean into that spot for 1 minute or so till it seems to hurt less then I find another spot and repeat.

That's about it but I still aggravate my shoulder from time to time which sets me back a little. I check to see how I am doing by doing paddling type of motions with my arms. Currently pretty good but beginning of the week not so good. If I can stay pretty good for a while I am going to try surfing again.

[Cobra427]

Most shoulder problems of the rotator cuff are caused by paddling incorrectly. If you can fix your paddling, your shoulders won't bother you any more. The key is: when the arm goes in the water it should go down first, then come back. Many surfers push down with their hand/arm, versus pulling back, pushing down does nothing, pulling back propels you. When pulling your hand out of the water after a stroke (don't pull past your waste, no further), lift your elbow straight up and let the hand follow along the board. If your hand swings out like a door, you are doing it wrong. This technique allows the large muscles of the back to do the work versus what 90% of surfers do, load their rotator cuffs. Check out Rob Case, he has excellent information on proper paddling technique, it made a huge difference for me.