Shoulder warm up exercises help improve your shoulder flexibility, As the shoulders play an important role in coordinating various activities.
Activities, which include swimming, pull ups, and pushing goals, among others.
It will be helpful in these exercises if you always keep your shoulder stretches and strong with more flexibility. It is recommended to consider warm-up exercises, which avoid the cause of tightness or pain during your daily routine activities or scheduled exercises.
There are many exercises that you can try and thus allow you to choose the one that suits you best. Let’s consider a combined exercise, which you can do to strengthen your shoulders.
Shoulder Warm Up Exercises
Arm Overhead Stretch
It is a common shoulder exercise that you can do and it will help keep your shoulder always flexible.
- When you want to start this exercise, you need to stand straight with your feet shoulder width apart.
- Raise your arms straight above your head, interlace your fingers, and keep palms facing the ceiling.
- Lift your arms up while pressing your shoulders down.
- Hold this position for a few seconds, this will promote your shoulder strength as well as your mobility, then release the stretch.
- Repeat the stretch steps several times.
Straight Arm Circles
It is the simplest shoulder warm-up exercise to improve mobility, especially at the shoulder joint, thus enabling the shoulder to perform various activities. There are different sizes of circles you can try, but you need to start with a small circle and as you progress make the circle larger.
To perform this exercise, you need to stand straight on your feet and start by stretching the first arm straight. Next, you can start rolling your arm while making a small circle. As you continue to move, you can increase the diameter of the circle.
Once you have completed one arm, you can proceed to the other arm and repeat the same and finally finish the exercise by moving both arms together.
Arm Swings Backward and Forward
This shoulder warm-up is considered by many to be a challenge, and more often than not, people exercise while doing a warm-up. It’s simple, but it needs someone to be more attentive to make sure you stick to the “one forward, one backward” rule.
If this is your first time trying it, here is what you need to do. You can decide to either start with either arm forward and the other arm backward.
However, you need to make sure that your arms are slightly away from your ears, to reduce the chance of hitting your ears during the exercise. When moving/swinging one arm forward, the other arm should be behind. Repeat the same rotation ten times.
Interchanging Chest Hugs Stretch
The chest hugs exercise can be considered a way to help the chest open up, but the truth is that it is a shoulder warm-up exercise. When you alternating, it helps pull the front socket, which enhances shoulder movement.
It is the best exercise you can do when you want to strengthen or improve mobility.
You can either hug the chest with your arms exchanging to the side and then move your arms backward. It will help strengthen the muscles and thus make them stronger. You can take this exercise as a daily exercise when you wake up, and it will help your shoulder to be more relaxed.
Rolling Shoulder Circle
Many people consider this to be the most difficult shoulder warm-up exercise, but it is not. You only need to be more careful in the movement of your shoulder. It is a valuable exercise as it helps build the scapula.
You need to start the exercise by making a small circle with your shoulders and increasing the diameter of the circle to make it larger.
However, while doing the circuit, you need to draw your shoulders back and forth, and this will help your socket effectively. It will be best if you do these movements from both sides, this will build your shoulders in good health.
Child Pose Exercise
Here comes another exercise that you can do and make sure that your shoulders are well stretched and do any activities that engage your shoulder a lot. You can do this exercise at any time.
All you have to do is kneel down on a mat, and with your knees at shoulder width apart, and place your palms on the mat. Next, you need to bend your torso forward and make sure that the weight of your tummy is carried by your thighs.
You will use your arms to stretch forward and back a few times, this will help strengthen your shoulders more. You can perform the exercise for about twenty minutes, and you will be assured that your shoulders will warm-up.
Chin Tucks Exercise “Head Forward and Backward”
Many people refer to this exercise as a neck or posture exercise, but it’s a good exercise for your shoulders too. All you have to choose is a designated place where you can stand upright.
To start the stretch, first make sure your spine is straight and aligned with your head. Then you need to gradually push your head back with your jawbone pointing toward your neck, similar to a nod, like your creating a double chin.
Hold the same position for twenty seconds and then return your head forward to the normal starting position.
If you want to stretch to the side, you need to gradually pull your head to one side of the ear, opposite your shoulder.
An important thing about this exercise is that you can do it at home or at your workplace without any problem.
Wall Ball Rolling Exercise
If you have a tennis ball, you can do this exercise well and warm up every day. You can start with the right hand side, Grab the ball in one hand and place it on the wall at shoulder height. Then slowly rotate your arm joint as you draw a small circle on the wall with the ball. Repeat the rotation for twenty seconds.
Switch to the left hand and repeat the same action you’re aiming for to make circles with the ball. This exercise will allow you to strengthen your muscles and give your shoulder the strength you need to perform various activities.
Resistance Band Shoulder Exercise
The resistance band exercise is so popular for many people that it can be used for other body exercises. However, the rope band is one of the simplest exercises you can do to warm up your shoulder. It would be best if you have a medium sized band that you can attach to the wall. It is preferable to hold both sides of the band with your hand. Then you need to pull the band for ten times.
You can begin to slowly pull the band while increasing the speed to ensure your shoulder is well relaxed. Alternatively, you can take the band with both arms and begin to stretch, focusing on the shoulder.
Another exercise you can use for the band is when you hold the band with one foot, pull the band up and down a few times. Band exercises are considered much safer than any other warm-up exercise, although not many people like them.
Shoulder Pull-Up
If you visit the gym, the first shoulder warm-up exercise that your gym instructor recommends, is the pull-up. However, if you do not visit the gym, you will not be left behind with this exercise.
What you need to do is have the Pull–Up Bar, which comes with your shoulder width apart. Make sure your arms are straight and your feet are off the ground.
It would be best to pull yourself together until then when your chin clears the bar. However, you need to ensure that there is a proper contraction of your back muscles with the help of your elbows.
You also need to maintain the head position straight and your eyes forward. Keep lowering your body up and down until then, you feel that your shoulders have sufficiently stretched.
FAQ
How should I Warm Up my Shoulders Before Working Out?
You need to follow the above exercises to warm up your shoulders before workout to avoid any injury that might rise to the muscles.
How do you Warm Up your Rotator Cuff?
The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles that ensure stabilize and allow movement of the shoulder, and it is located at the back of your shoulders.
Performing the reverse fly is a good exercise for warming up the rotator cuff and make it flexible, and you can do it by following these steps:
- Hold two light dumbbells in your hands.
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and set your knees to be slightly bent.
- Keep your back straight and bend your torso slightly forward at the waist.
- Begin by extending your arms out to the sides and raising them away from your body.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades during the routine.
- Make sure your arms are not raised above shoulder height.
- Repeat for about 3 sets of 8 reps each.
How often should you Workout your Rotator Cuff?
For each exercise, you should perform 18 to 28 repetitions, 3 to 6 times a week. Keep your range of motion small at first and gradually increase it over time.
If you decide to use weights, start with a lighter weight and increase it slightly each week.
How do you Warm Up your Shoulders with a Band?
You can follow this exciting exercise explained above with the name (Resistance Band Shoulder Exercise).
How can I Strengthen my Shoulder Joints?
The Door Lean exercise can help stretch the shoulders muscles and improve resistance in the joints, as the following steps:
- Stand straight facing toward the doorway, then raise both your hands above the head.
- Place one hand on either side of the door frame.
- Lean forward slowly until you begin to feel a contraction in your shoulders.
- Freeze this pose for 14-35 seconds.
- Repeat the routine 3 times.
Why are Shoulders so Weak?
Tightening Shoulders and Muscles Weakness can be caused by several factors, including age, poor posture, muscle weakness, and misalignment of the spine in the body that leads to tight shoulders.
On the other hand, muscle strain can also lead to injury or even chronic fatigue.
Shoulder weakness can result from any deficits of coordination in the tendons or nerve muscle system.
During Therapy if shoulder weakness does not respond and recover, it may be an indication of a rotator cuff issue or nerve injury.
What Causes Shoulder Pain in Both Shoulders?
Shoulder pain is caused by many conditions. The most common circumstance called (Arthritis Osteoarthritis).
This condition is due to the wear and tear of the cartilage that grant the bones to glide smoothly into the joints connectors, and it can occur during aging or excessive injury.
Furthermore, the rotator cuff muscles maintain the upper arm bone grasped in the shoulder blade socket.
If the pain or damage to the rotator cuff muscles or tendons is in a specific condition, it can cause swelling and pain in the shoulders.
What are the Best Shoulder Pain Exercises?
Note: Before you start exercising, remember, don’t push yourself over your limits.
If you feel pain beyond that, stop exercising immediately. Below are exercises for the shoulders that has pain.
Cross the Chest Stretch
This routine increases the mobility of the shoulder joint and the range of motion of the muscles around it, and the steps are:
- Stand straight, with legs close to each other.
- Raise the right arm straight up, to be parallel to the floor.
- With the left hand supported, begin by bringing your right arm across your chest, by placing the left palm on the right elbow and pull the right arm toward the left shoulder “do not go beyond your range limit.”
- Freeze this position for about 60 seconds.
- Switch and repeat on the other side.
Neck Release
Focus on loosen pressure from your shoulders and neck with the following steps:
- Standing upright.
- Lower your head and chin toward your chest. You will start to feel stretches in your neck and back.
- Slowly bend your head to the left side to stretch the right shoulder.
- Freeze this position for about 60 seconds.
- Then repeat by switching on the other side.
Final Thought
Keeping the shoulder warm up grant your body a healthy and pain-free while stretching which is very important because it allows you to gain the most of all your shoulder and body workouts. It also ensures that your body is healthy and functional.
You want to do shoulder mobility exercises, this will ensure that all of your shoulder joints are mobile and ensure shoulder development.
It will be better if you do a routine of undertake shoulder warm-up exercises, these will also help your body in undertaking different body exercises. Everyone should give a strong, pain-free shoulder a high priority.
However, if you are undertaking these shoulder exercises for the first time, you may experience some pain. However, the pain will be significantly reduced when you continue to repeat similar exercises.
Facts about humans beings are that they tend to develop tightness in the shoulders and therefore pose a lot of challenges when it comes to exercises. Additionally, you need to follow the correct steps while warming up through these exercises and enhancing safety measures.