Sore Shoulders! Arm-Strengthening Poses Protect the Shoulders—If You Do Them Correctly

{ asana solutions } So Long, Sore Shoulders! Arm-strengthening poses protect the shoulders—if you do them correctly. Discover a common cause of sore shoulders and start finding relief today.

By doug keller

Flexible ashtangis and other hatha yoga enthusiasts often suffer from dull, persistent pain at the fronts of the shoulders. Why? This type of soreness occurs when we overtax our shoulders in demanding poses such as chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose). If our shoulders are incorrectly positioned in such weight-bearing poses—and they often are—the tendons attaching the biceps to the fronts of the arm bones can be strained y r e v

and may even begin to tear. The injury arms extended forward at shoulder o c s i

is a form of tendonitis called biceps ten- height, wrists flexed at 90 degrees, and D f o s

donitis (Fig. 1). This, in turn, may put arms parallel (as if you were pantomim- k o o

strain on the rotator cuff, the group of ing plank pose from a standing position) B 5 0 0

muscles and tendons that stabilize the (Fig. 2a). Draw your shoulders back so 2 : s n

shoulder. Here are some tips to help that they are in the same plane as your o i t a r you protect your biceps, develop proper ears. Now bend your elbows, bringing t s u l l i

shoulder alignment, restore structural the tops of your hands straight back l a c i

integrity to your shoulders, and perform toward the fronts of your shoulders. m o t a n

poses like chaturanga and plank safely Notice how the shoulders inevitably A ; r e

and effectively. hunch forward to some degree; you will d n e

feel some strain or tension at the fronts of B a r r e your shoulders (Fig. 2b). Many students i

IDENTIFYING GOOD ALIGNMENT S : l e

Let’s start with a little experiment, ex- actually come into chaturanga dandasana d o

ploring shoulder alignment without put- this way, descending straight down from M ; l r i ting weight on the arms. This will help plank pose (or even jumping back from g m O

you feel the many muscles involved with- uttanasana, the standing forward bend) y b t n

out distraction. To begin, stand with your with their shoulders too close to their a p a h t a h

Biceps Acromion d n a

Tendons Process i m a c e c i t c a r p : e b o r d

1 r a W ; . c o s

Corachobrachialis s A i l a C y u G / i k s p i l i F m i

TENDONS AT RISK The corachobrachialis muscle lies J : s o beneath the biceps. When the shoulders are incorrectly t o h p

positioned in weight-bearing poses, such as chaturanga a n a s

dandasana, the tendons of these muscles are easily strained. A

hands. When the shoulders hunch for-

L ward (dropping toward the floor in cha- L L turanga) the pectoral muscles must do L nearly all the work, and this strains the fronts of the shoulder capsules. L Here is a way to feel the proper L action. Once again, extend your arms forward and draw your shoulders back in line with your ears. Keep your shoulders firmly in this position and then bend your elbows to 90 degrees. Your elbows should be at waist level and your forearms parallel to the floor (Fig. 2c). This is the correct position for the arms, with the shoulders still in line with your ears rather than rounding forward. Feel the muscles under and around your shoulder 2a2c2b blades working to draw your shoulder blades firmly onto your back like mag- nets. These are the muscles that hold STANDING PLANK MISALIGNED CHATURANGA ALIGNED CHATURANGA the shoulder blades in place, to comple- With your arms extended Draw your hands in toward From standing plank, bend ment the pushing action of the pectorals forward at shoulder height your shoulders and notice how your elbows and draw your and triceps. If you disengage these mus- and your wrists flexed, draw the shoulders hunch forward. hands to waist level. Feel the cles, your shoulders will immediately your shoulders back until they In this position, the pectorals muscles working under and drop forward. >> are in line with your ears. overwork, straining the joint. around your shoulder blades.

yogaplus.org march - april 2008 yoga+joyful living 77 ACTIVATING KEY SHOULDER MUSCLES higher. They must also remain in line broader and the sides of your neck more This next series of exercises activates a with your ears; do not let them drift back relaxed. Your upper trapezius muscles are few key muscles in the shoulders and behind the torso. Keeping this alignment doing the work of holding your shoulders upper body, builds strength and integrity, through the exercise is actually its most up, reducing the load on the deltoid and and can help heal rotator cuff injuries. For important challenge. If you are tight in levator scapulae muscles at either side of the first exercise, start by lifting your arms the levator scapulae and upper rhom- your neck. out to the sides. Bend your elbows to 90 boids, and weak in the upper trapezius Keeping your shoulders and elbows degrees so that your forearms are parallel because of sloping shoulders, your el- in the same plane as the central axis of to the floor, your fingers are pointing for- bows will drop below and behind the your body, rotate your arms until your ward, and your palms are facing down shoulders as the shoulders creep upward fingers point straight up toward the ceil- (Fig. 3a). In this and each of the move- and forward. If that happens, realign your- ing (Fig. 3b). Your elbows are still bent ments that follow, your elbows must re- self by relaxing your shoulders down away at 90 degrees and your palms are facing main at shoulder height or even slightly from your ears. Your shoulders will feel forward. Check your alignment in a mir- ror. As you rotate your arms up to this position, notice how your shoulder blades move down your back, away from your ears. Feel how the muscles around and even underneath your shoulder blades firm, pressing your shoulder blades into your back. The bottom tips of the shoulder blades will press toward your back ribs, encouraging a lift and opening in the chest. Now for the fun part. While keeping your arms in exactly this alignment, bent at 90 degrees, rotate your palms inward toward your ears, even drawing your little fingers toward each other and thumbs away from each other (Fig. 3c). While doing this, flex your biceps (actually, it will be hard not to), drawing the energy of that contraction from your inner elbows toward your armpits. This action of the inner biceps (and corachobrachialis, an arm adductor, see Fig. 1) serves to secure the heads of the arm bones in the shoulder joints, strengthening and protecting the tendons at the fronts of the shoulder capsules. This action will help steady the shoulders for what follows. Keeping the inner biceps engaged, rotate your hands and forearms outward, so that your palms face away from your ears (Fig. 3d). Again, draw your little fingers toward each other and your thumbs

Doug Keller has a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University. His yoga journey includes 14 years of practicing in Siddha Yoga ashrams, intensive training in the Iyengar and Anusara methods, and nearly a decade of teaching in the U.S. and abroad. Asana instruction, essays, and other enlightening information are available on his website: DoYoga.com.

78 yoga+joyful living march - april 2008 yogaplus.org away from each other. The muscular the shoulder blades themselves. Keep Now extend your arms to either side, contraction draws energy from the little your chest open and notice that the as in virabhadrasana II (warrior II). Feel fingers and outer forearms through your shoulder blades are not pressing toward how your arms receive more support triceps and the backs of your shoulders each other. They don’t pinch or close like from the action of the shoulder blades, (infraspinatus and teres minor, two rota- elevator doors; they stay where they are and less from the deltoids—though the tor cuff muscles) and into the muscles of and hug the back. deltoids will still be working. If you lose

L L

L L L L L

3a 3b 3c 3d

ALIGN YOUR ARMS by bending ROTATE YOUR UPPER ARMS ROTATE YOUR PALMS INWARD ROTATE YOUR PALMS OUT your elbows at shoulder height, toward the ceiling while keeping while engaging your biceps, feeling while keeping your inner biceps keeping your forearms parallel to your elbows in line with your the contraction from your inner engaged. This action presses your the floor. Don’t let your elbows fall shoulders. This action moves your elbows to your armpits. This action shoulder blades into your back below or draw behind the shoulders. shoulder blades down your back. stabilizes your shoulder joints. without pinching them together.

yogaplus.org march - april 2008 yoga+joyful living 79 the support of these muscles in the shoul- When they contract, they pull the shoulder blades, you can regain it by simply der blades forward, effectively helping rotating your palms to face upward. us to push through the arms. In conjunc- Reach up through your little fingers, and tion with the pectoral muscles of the front feel the outer edges of your shoulder body, they help hold us steady in a simple blades firm into your back, supporting plank pose. When the serratus muscles the weight of your arms. Maintain that are weak, the shoulder blades will “wing firmness as you turn your palms to face out” or lift away from the ribs as we push down once again. through the arms in plank pose. This If you repeat this series two to three leads to tightness and strain at the fronts times and then hold your arms extended of the shoulders, especially from the ac- for four to five breaths, you may be sur- tion of the pectorals. prised at how much work is required of While the serratus anterior muscles the shoulders. This exercise is a good prep- play a large role when we push our shoul- aration for extending your arms in the lat- ders forward, the trapezius and rhomboid eral poses, such as trikonasana (triangle muscles help us to pull our shoulders pose) and virabhadrasana II, and it will back. Thus these two sets of muscles help protect (or heal) the rotator cuffs. work in dynamic opposition to each The third step of this exercise acti- other. They, along with the “posterior” vates the trapezius muscles (Fig. 4a), portion of the serratus muscles, are the which play an important role in stabi- glue holding the shoulder blades to the lizing the shoulder blades on the back, back when we exert force through the balancing the action of an important set arms, protecting the fronts of the shoul- of “pushing” muscles called the serratus ders from injury by overexertion. Chatu- muscles, which are involved in chaturanga dandasana is an exercise in learning ranga dandasana and related poses. The how to balance the “pushing” muscles serratus anterior muscles attach to the (serratus anterior, triceps, and pectorals) ribs at the sides of the chest and connect and the “pulling” muscles (serratus pos- underneath the shoulder blades (Fig. 4b). terior, trapezius, and rhomboids). >>

Superficial muscles of Deep muscles of the Upper Back the Upper Back Serratus Anterior Trapezius Rhomboid

4a Shoulder 4b

L Blade

L L

THE TRAPEZIUS AND RHOMBOID muscles THE SERRATUS ANTERIOR muscles pull the shoulder blades back toward the spine. These attach to the sides of the ribs and connect muscles protect the fronts of the shoulders from underneath the shoulder blades. When con- injury by holding the shoulder blades onto the back tracted, these muscles pull your shoulder rapezius and Rhomboid illustration: 2005 Books of Discovery; Serratus Anterior illustration: Blandine Calais Germain / Anatomy of Movement / Eastland Press

when we exert force through the arms. blades forward and round your upper back. T

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L L L

L L

5a 5b

PLANK PREP ON THE EXHALE With a straight spine, press through PLANK PREP ON THE INHALE With a straight spine, slowly pull your your arms to engage the serratus anterior muscles. This action will slightly upper back toward the floor to engage the serratus posterior muscles, which round your upper back and draw your shoulder blades away from each other. draws your shoulder blades toward each other.

REDISCOVERING CHATURANGA you are using your serratus anterior mus- release, and you can consciously engage DANDASANA cles; concentrate on feeling the move- the trapezius as a whole. Your arms We can now move toward a better prac- ment of your shoulder blades, which is should remain straight throughout this tice of chaturanga dandasana, bringing the point of this exercise. exercise, and your spine should not arch this newfound awareness and strength As you inhale, still without bending or round. with us. A good place to start is from a your elbows or arching your lower back, simple hands and knees position. In this lower your chest—moving from the same Plank Pose particular exercise, keep the spine straight place between your shoulder blades— To increase the challenge, do the very and neutral (maintaining a natural inward toward the floor (Fig. 5b). Do it slowly same exercise in plank pose. In this case, curve of the lumbar spine) and the arms and with control, firming your shoulder you will feel your thighs and abdominals straight as well. The only movement blades gently into your back as your chest (particularly the obliques) working to occurs at the shoulder blades. As you exhale, press through your When the serratus muscles are weak, the shoulder blades “wing out” arms to raise your upper back—at a or lift away from the ribs as we push through the arms in plank pose. place between your shoulder blades— This leads to tightness and strain at the fronts of the shoulders. toward the ceiling, but without letting your upper back round significantly opens with the in-breath. Your arms will support the plank-like quality of your (Fig. 5a). Expect only a slight upward rotate out somewhat as the lower tips of torso as you work with your shoulders. movement; as you press through your your shoulder blades squeeze toward Keep your arms straight, and actively arms, your shoulder blades slide away each other from the action of the lower draw your shoulder blades flat on your from each other on your upper back, and trapezius. As you lower with control, the back as you raise and lower your chest your arms rotate inward slightly. Here serratus anterior muscles progressively (Figs. 6a and 6b). >>

L L L

L L

6a 6b

PLANK POSE ON THE EXHALE Press your arms firmly into the floor as PLANK POSE ON THE INHALE Strongly engage your thigh and abdomi- you actively draw your shoulder blades away from each other. nal muscles as you slowly draw your upper back toward the floor.

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7a L 7b

HALF PLANK POSE While balancing on your knees, engage your lower HALF CHATURANGA Draw your shoulder blades into your back ribs as you abdominals to keep your body in a straight line and tuck your tailbone to bend your elbows. Lower no more than halfway to the floor and hug your minimize the arch in your lower back. elbows toward the sides of your body.

Half Chaturanga degrees to the floor) (Fig. 7b). Hug your parallel to the floor (Fig. 8a). Now that we’ve strengthened the serra- elbows toward the sides of your chest This takes a great deal of strength and tus muscles along with the trapezius, we and only go as far as you can without let- coordination between the thighs and the can move toward the challenges of chatu- ting your lower back arch or your shoul- abdominals, but the real challenge is to ranga dandasana itself. As an intermedi- ders tip forward. In this variation, you hold your shoulder blades firm and ary step, start on your hands and knees will not be able to come to a full chatu- steady on your back while recruiting the once again. Lift your feet and cross your ranga position in the upper body. This serratus muscles to steady your shoulders ankles, so that you are balanced on your exercise focuses on keeping the shoul- as you lower yourself down to chaturanga knees (but not on your kneecaps). Shift ders in place by firming the shoulder dandasana. If the serratus muscles do not your upper body forward until you have blades into the back. oblige, your elbows will wing out to the a straight line from your knees to your sides and you’ll lose the strength of the shoulders—a mini-plank (Fig. 7a). En- Chaturanga Dandasana trapezius muscles, which are holding gage your lower abdominals to minimize The full pose starts from the plank po- your shoulder blades steady on your back the arch in your lower back. Your spine sition. Lower the chest toward the floor (Fig. 8b). should stay steady and straight at all enough to bring your shoulder blades Chaturanga dandasana presents a sig- times. firmly on your back. While bending your nificant challenge and test of true shoul- Draw your shoulders back, bringing elbows, you will need to shift your body der strength and integrity. If you jump your shoulder blades flat on your back, forward, keeping your thighs and abdom- into it too quickly, relying on your chest as in the previous exercise. Keep your inals firm and steady, your elbows near and arm strength, you risk injury. But if shoulders in line with your ears as you your waist, and your forearms nearly you approach it progressively and mind- bend your elbows to lower your upper vertical to the floor. Your shoulders fully, you will succeed in cultivating a body at most halfway to the floor (the line should remain in line with the central strong and open-hearted posture, without from knees to shoulders will be at 45 axis of your body, and your upper arms the pain that comes from pushing.+

8a 8b

CHATURANGA DANDASANA While bending your elbows, shift your body INCORRECT CHATURANGA DANDASANA If your upper back muscles forward, keeping your elbows near your waist and your shoulder blades firm are weak, your shoulders will round as you lower into the pose, straining the against your back. Make sure to keep your forearms nearly vertical to the floor. tendons at the fronts of your shoulder joints.

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