ShoulderCentric

News, Links, Views & Video for Your Shoulder Rehabilitation Programme

The London Golf Show 2011 – November 11th-13th at Earls Court

October 31st, 2011 No comments »

The London Golf Show 2011 – November 11^th-13^th at Earls Court

ShoulderCentric is going to be at The London Golf Show with The Rotater, the shoulder rehab and performance device. We are very pleased to be invited to share a stand with the premier UK provider of Trigger Point Therapy products and rehabilitation training in the UK, Balance Performance. The professional expertise, experience and enthusiasm of our two companies complement one another well, with the emphasis of the staff on the stand as much about information and promoting good health as it is about products.

The Rotater is the ideal device for enhancing shoulder performance and preparation for sports such as golf, rehab & recovery from injury and improved performance for golfers looking for enhanced range of shoulder motion (and maybe swing as well!), flexibility and protection from injury.

Especially useful in a golfing context for improving the top end of the back swing and used by *Gerry James, PGA Professional & Tour Trainer, 2 times World Long Drive Champion and *Mike Dobbyn, 2007 RE/MAX Long Drive Champion, the Rotater can also help you as well by;

increasing specifically internal shoulder rotation, vital for your down swing and movement across the body
increasing your general shoulder flexibility
helping you regain your shoulder range of motion
aiding your rotator cuff rehabilitation
allowing you to play and work with less shoulder pain
stretching your shoulder prior to and following sporting events
and, in some cases, helping to avoid invasive shoulder surgery

Why does The Rotater stand out?

Where coaches and golf pro’s can influence your technique and therapy and therapists can control your rehab and recovery, The Rotater gives you a new type of control – a simple, reproducible and scalable method of self-treatment and keeps control quite literally in your own hands.

We are introducing this deceptively simple-looking device to the wider UK Golfing community for the first time at The London Golf Show and we would love to have the opportunity to show you how much it can change both your range of motion and shoulder flexibility, but also potentially improve your game by giving you a ‘cushion’ of flexibility that will reduce the chances of injury. The Rotater is portable, easy to master and inexpensive.

Scalability in training and rehabilitation is critical both for development of your skills and physical ability, but because no one person is the same as the next, devices like The Rotater and TPT tools can be infinitely tweeked to serve the needs of each individual.

You do not have to be injured to benefit, but, our **staff may well be able to spot where your general posture and shoulder bio-mechanics difficulties that may be holding you back.

So if you’re in London on the weekend of Nov 11-13, come and visit our stand at The London Golf Show, try out The Rotater and Balance Performance’s Trigger Point Performance Therapy tools for yourself. Let your golfing friends or coach know about us too. If you’re going with a mind to test and try out golf clubs come to the stand and try out TPT & Rotater and move easier before you go in search of a Callaway or Taylor Made.

Follow us on Twitter @shouldercentric for regular updates and @londongolfshow.

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Golfing Endorsements for The Rotater

*Gerry James – PGA Tour Trainer

Chris I received the Rotater today. Thank you very much.

As a pro athlete, and trainer to other pro athletes, I have a lot of training stuff come my way. This is one of the best well thought-out devices I have ever used.

Every serious athlete should have one of these. As I stated on the phone I train a PGA Tour player that just had surgery for a labrum tear. Had he had it before I started working with him, I just can’t help but think he would not have had any such injury.

You can use my endorsement if you wish.

Gerry James
PGA Professional, 2X World Long Drive Champion – PGA Tour Trainer

**DISCLAIMER – we cannot give medical advice without a full history and physical examination, but we may suggest that you take further advice from a medical or other professional.

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Posted in General Comments, Golf Related, Personal Training, Rotater Cuff Injuries, Rotator Cuff Anatomy, Sports Champion

Spring, Climb, Shear, Push, Pull, Twist &……..Fail!

June 17th, 2011 No comments »

It’s early summer here in the UK and despite the current downpours, the steady hum of bees and happy gardeners is in full throat. In fact, the rain is making the grass and garden plants grow with even more vigour. For Osteopaths, this is a busy time of year too, with all sorts of strains, injuries and sometimes very inventive ways of hurting oneself presenting to us.

I tend to see winter as ‘aches & pains’ and spring/summer as ‘strains & sprains’, because, while the total numbers of patients doesn’t change, the injury types very certainly do! So what’s typical?

Lower back problems from digging and planting. Achilles tendon pains from crouching and squatting for too long doing the borders. Neck pains and strains from pruning higher plants and shrubs and, of course, shoulder problems.

I want to talk about the warning signs that might help you avoid Impingement Syndrome in particular. Sub acromial impingement as a problem is as ‘common-or-garden’ as it gets, with 30% of the over 40′s suffering it to some degree of impingement or rotator cuff tear.

Neer ** classifies shoulder impingement in the following way

Type I: <25 years old, Reversible, swelling, tendonitis, no tears – Leads to conservative treatment

Type II: 25-40 years old, Permanent scarring, tendonitis, no tears – Leads to sub-acromial decompression surgery

Type III: >40 years old, Small Rotator Cuff Tear – Leads to SAD surgery with debridement/repair

Type IV: >40 years old, Large RTC tear – Leads to SAD with repair

One way to view impingement syndrome is to understand the anatomy. Most texts will give you very detailed descriptions of which bit goes where, what lies above or below what, which nerve serves it and where the blood supply comes from and goes to. All well and good and, if you can remember it all, it will allow you to think about the function.

However, what I rarely see described is the phenomenon of ‘potential space’. It might be described as a space, cavity or area that can, (potentially), exist between two structures, BUT, which in reality does not exist in normal anatomical function. To many the term potential implies a roomy area with space to spare.

An example is the two layers of the pleura, the sack that surrounds the lungs – the layers are touching one another, but slide over one another because of the fluid that separates them. That space can, however, be filled with fluid, (pleurisy) or blood, (haemothorax).

The subacromial space is an example of a potential space that is full of stuff – the supraspinatus tendon, blood vessels, nerves, a fat pad and the subacromial bursa for starters!

Warning Signs!

So what to expect if you are experiencing impingement?

Reaching out and up produces a sharp pain over the outer tip and front of the shoulder.
It may be sharp enough to make you drop the arm to your side.
As the shoulder drops, you may feel the need to drop your whole body, grasp the affected forearm and draw the arm into a ‘cuddle’.
Pain is most prominent when reaching directly ahead of you.
Weakness as well as pain is usual.
Simple tasks such as reaching for the kettle or changing gear may be sharply painful.
Leaning on your elbow or direct upward pressure will probably be painful.
Night pain, especially if you lie on the affected shoulder.

NB. If the tip of the shoulder is red and swollen, you may be experiencing bursitis – get it checked out.

Also very important is the need to keep your shoulder blade, or scapula, moving well. Poor scapular motion can come from many things, but in this context my feeling is that we are often doing a task that is too heavy when the arm is reaching out, (e.g., hedge trimming,), or when spending too long at a task and fatigue sets in.

Imagine opening that bottle of beer at the end of you task! The opener ‘impinges’ on the rim of the bottle neck and levers the top off. Your shoulder, if abused, is not so different and I can promise a slow recovery from this painful condition.

So rather than dwell on the injury, try and look at the prevention – keep your shoulders, upper back and core strong – maintain good scapular motion by doing extension exercises which work the rhomboids and traps – don’t overreach, either physically or in terms of your ambition and take regular rest breaks.

You will find other shoulder related articles on this blog and elsewhere on the web – do the research, but mainly use your common sense, trust your own judgement and stop when you think you should, not when others tell you must.

Last, in the inimitable words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, “Be careful out there”, and especially look after your shoulders!

** http://www.rotatorcuff.net/impingement.htm

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Posted in Fitness, General Comments, Rotater Cuff Injuries, Rotator Cuff Anatomy

Ginger, Pepper, Fish, Devils’s Claw & Indian Frankincese

May 13th, 2011 No comments »

Triggered by a conversation with Rannoch Donald about anti-inflammatory therapy, I got to thinking what advice is available out there for alternatives to NSAID’s.

Here’s some of what I found.

Your granny and great granny no doubt told you that fish oil is good for almost everything, including healthy joints. Is this true?

Slapping yourself with stinging nettles is good for arthritis! Really?

Ginger will ward off aches and pains, as well as seasickness. Are you sure?

Green-lipped mussel extract? Sounds unlikely, right?

They all sound like old wives tales, but here are the outcomes from this metastudy;

Fish oils, Vit K and hyaluronic acid – “None of these compounds was significantly more effective than placebo in single trials of treatment of OA ” – Oh, dear!
Stinging Nettles – One trial’s outcome was that there was an associated reduction in pain and disability. A second, “with 42 chronic knee pain patients who had a presumptive diagnosis of OA, failed to demonstrate any significant pain reduction for those applying stinging vs non-stinging nettle for 10 s at three knee sites daily over 1 week” – Hobson’s Choice?
Ginger – One trial compared 170 mg ginger extract was compared with ibuprofen 400 mg and placebo three times daily amongst 67 patients with hip or knee OA for 3 weeks, significant reduction in pain and function on ibuprofen but not for either ginger or placebo. A second trial, 255 mg ginger extract 2 x daily for 6 weeks demonstrated improvement of pain across the trial was greater in the group taking ginger extract. A third, 250 mg of ginger extract and placebo were administered in a cross-over trial of 261 patients with each treatment lasting 12 weeks.Patients receiving ginger extract reported significantly lower pain and handicap – Take your pick!
Capsaicin Gel (Pepper) - In three trials, patients applied 0.025% capsaicin four times daily with the duration of treatment between 4 and 12 weeks. In a further study, 0.015% capsaicin was applied once daily for 6 weeks and 0.075% capsaicin four times daily for 4 weeks. In all trials, capsaicin gel was found to be significantly more effective in improving pain than placebo, and similarly effective compared with glyceryl trinitrate gel in the single trial. In the 12-week study at the end of treatment, there was a 53% reduction in pain severity compared with 27% on placebo and in the 4-week study the comparable reductions were 33 and 20%. – Now that looks promising.
Willow Bark – One trial suggested that, “willow bark was more efficacious at reducing pain than placebo (47 vs 17%) and no different from diclofenac sodium (10%). Adverse effects such as increased blood pressure, stomach upset and allergic reactions were reported. In the first and second trials, the proportion of patients reporting adverse events was similar on willow bark and placebo (41 vs 41% and 44 vs 49%, respectively), while a greater proportion of the diclofenac group reported such an event (70%) – OK, so better than nothing, not effective as diclofenac, but fewer side effects. Worth a look, then, I’d say.

The review covers several other alternatives to traditional NSAID’s and you can read the full report at Medscape.com, although you may have to sign up for access.

I am sure that there are many studies out there that will either confirm or contradict what I have highlighted. These are just some opinions and views from a very complex and broad are. However, this review panel is well accredited and should be taken seriously, in my judgement.

However, perhaps you would allow me to take a simpler view. Take nettles, for example. This group’s review suggests one study says it is of no help, one says it does help.

The circumstances and methods may have been somewhat different, but it perhaps reflects an important fact of life – that nothing works equally for everyone. Assuming there are no conflicts with other medicines and medical conditions, I feel it is worth taking a look at many of these things before you resort to NSAID’s. Better still, consult someone who has experience. Choose someone with relevant expertise – I might be an Osteopath, but I am not a Naturopath, Homoeopath, Nutritionist or Medical Herbalist. Do your own research and get the right advice, because there will be times when appropriate medical intervention in inflammatory conditions IS the right thing to do.

Principles are great things to have, but don’t let yourself suffer from them and inflammation is to be taken seriously. It can be the early sign of some really serious conditions that no amount of nettle flagellation of seafood engulfing will help!

Remain sceptical but balanced and don’t just read the stuff that you agree with. That’s lazy and doesn’t help you to come to the right decisions. It only affirms what you already think and that, while comfortable, is potentially harmful.

Stay safe and well.

Andrew

** Authors and Disclosures

Vijitha De Silva^1,2, Ashraf El-Metwally¹, Edzard Ernst³, George Lewith⁴ and Gary J. Macfarlane¹ on behalf of the Arthritis Research UK working group on complementary and alternative medicines

¹Aberdeen Pain Research Collaboration (Epidemiology Group), School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK, ²Department of Community Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, ³Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter and ⁴Complementary and Integrated Medicine Research Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

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Posted in General Comments, Medication, Muscle & Fitness, Uncategorized

Depressed? You should be!

November 8th, 2010 No comments »

I want to talk about the SUBCLAVIUS MUSCLE. This important muscle, which depresses and ‘forward rolls’ the collar bone, is often overlooked by those working in the world of shoulder rehab. It is small and looks insignificant, is absent in some people, and sometimes considered vestigial. However, it is crucial for the full and healthy movement of the shoulder.

Where is it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2JBEOwWNdc

The muscle starts high on the front of the chest, rising from your first rib, (just below your collar bone, near the breastbone), and attaches to a groove that runs under the collar bone. It may reach as far as the coraco-clavicular ligament, at the outer end of the collar bone.

What does it do?

The standard definition is that it pulls the collar bone down, (mainly at the outer end), and forwards to stabilise the collar bone during shoulder activity.

But, there is more to it than that!

It also has an accessory role in respiration under exertion, along with the sterno-mastoid, which is attached to the upper side of the collar bone at the breast bone end.

It compliments the action of the pectoralis minor, the deeper of the two chest muscles. This muscle also helps to depress and forward roll the outer end of the collar bone through its attachment to the coracoid process and connection through the fascia of the ligaments.

Subsequent ligament attachments also connect with the shoulder and scapula, therefore help to move the whole shoulder mechanism.

So why does it matter?

Well, if it working, it doesn’t matter. When the subclavius is working properly and in harmony with its related structures, it helps us with stability of the collar bone, breathing and is involved in overall shoulder movement and stability.

However, the subclavius doesn’t always work well, especially if you damage your shoulder. The muscle itself may be uninjured, but more commonly, our natural reaction to shoulder trauma is to ‘cuddle’ the affected arm to our chest – we pull the shoulder up, forward and across the chest. It is protective and feels safe. One thing that most people with shoulder pain feel is insecurity and instability.

In these situations, the subclavius often spasms and shortens, holding the collar bone in a fixed, depressed, position. Given time, this shortening can become habitual and even fixed.

One consequence may be that the whole shoulder becomes relatively forward held. This stresses the bicep tendons, especially the long head, which is a major factor in poor shoulder function.

In practical terms, whatever holds it forward will restrict the collar bone in upwards and back rolling movements, such as shoulder external rotation, extension and abduction.

The easy motion of the first rib as you breathe may well be compromised and this has implications for the whole thoracic outlet, (another topic).

What to do about it?

Trigger point therapy is a first stop in my experience. Typically you will find tender points at the breast bone end and just under the mid portion of the collar bone. You can see the distribution of referred pain in the diagram here.

You can use your thumb or index finger to find and press on the triggers for up to 60 secs.
Try applying pressure as you shorten the muscle by folding the shoulder forward and down.
This can be tender and sharp, so perhaps try a ball like the TPT ball to apply a targeted but slightly more spread out pressure. I find this very effective, especially for patients to use at home, as the pressure is spread firmly, but evenly.
With the TPT ball you can also continue into the other structures on the chest wall, such as pectoralis minor and anterior deltoid fibres.
Stretching the affected shoulder is a general stretch, as you cannot isolate the subclavius.
So stretch as for pecs, with the arm away from the body, palm forwards and extend the shoulder. Hold stretch for 60 seconds, repeat x 3.
The doorway stretch, as seen at this link is helpful; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQH4fQwMSo
Shoulder rolling. Clasp hands together across belly, elbow tucked into your sides and roll shoulders in a tight pattern, 40 x forward, 40 x backwards.
Devices like The Rotater, which are designed for rotator cuff stretching and strengthening, will also help in stretching the whole subclavicular region and in maintaining healthy movement of the collar bone, especially at the shoulder end.
The external rotation stretches will give most benefit.

Small muscle, big relevance. Give the subclavius some consideration in your stretch and prehab routine.

Additional Information from the following sources.

http://triggerpoints.net/triggerpoints/subclavius.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQH4fQwMSo

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Posted in Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Rotater Cuff Injuries, Rotator Cuff Anatomy

Tags: chronic pain clavicle frozen shoulder neck pain prehab PT recovery phase rotator cuff rotator cuff injury shoulder pain subclavicular subclavius subscapularis supraspinatus tendon The Rotater torn rotator cuff TPT Ball training aids trigger point therapy

Do We Need Another Scapular Stabilizing Exercise?

September 21st, 2010 No comments »

OK, so I am always going on about the importance of stabilizing the scapular muscles. These include the rotator cuff muscles and the accessory muscles such as biceps, trapezius, latisimus, rhomboids and serratus.
Sometimes it is undesirable to move the shoulder joint too much, but where you still want to maintain some strength and fitness in these muscles.
By using the following method, you can maintain an isometric contraction of this group while not stressing the joint itself.

As usual, use any exercise with discretion and care. If you are concerned, check with your therapist before starting this exercise.

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Posted in Fitness, Personal Training, Rotater Cuff Injuries, Rotator Cuff Anatomy

MIDDLE AGE: TRAINERS & TRAINEES

July 23rd, 2010 2 comments »

I am 52 years old. Recently, I have asked myself, what do I want from exercise? My history of sport, physical exercise, competition, health and health needs are probably quite typical!

Tall and strong at a young age, I was good at contact sports, particularly rugby and field athletics – running at someone, throwing anything and jumping were all fun for me. It was all about strength, condition and being bullet proof.

Dislocated left shoulder – shrug it off! Torn right knee cartilage – move on! Concussion – shake your head and get back up again.

Then, work and career started to get in the way. I married. We started a family. Professional training. Change of career. More qualifications. Walking with the kids and dog don’t really count, do they? Sport and exercise got put aside.

Twenty years pass. Sporadic attempts at gym, squash, circuits, and the rest. The kids grow up. Then, “40 years old” arrives and passes. Time to get rid of the growing belly. Back to the gym in earnest.

Boring, boring, boring! Too many ‘beautiful people’ who put me off and seemed so judgemental at my lack of focus and progress. Looking back, the problem was me not knowing what I wanted.

Next? A chance conversation and I was introduced to mountain biking. Now, this presses the right buttons! Wonderful and refreshing in its freedom and variability. Expensive, mind you! Great for aerobic fitness, balance and stamina – but ultimately, you get fit for what you are doing.

The activity doesn’t matter; tennis, running, rugby, and the rest – all wonderful but something was missing – I could bike a steep hill with the best and the rest, but couldn’t run up the street without puffing. The fitness was too specific, too focused.

It took another injury, severe this time, to make, no, force me to think about what I was doing. In my case, I came across kettlebell and body weight training and this works for me, physically and, more importantly, mentally. I enjoyed it and continue to enjoy it. Total body workout, flexible, aerobic and balanced. You can go heavy or light, hard or gentle.

Frankly,what works for me doesn’t matter – at my age so many people are searching for a specific or magical regime or principle that they can work to, a set of rules that they can follow. Well, let me spell it out – THERE IS NO SUCH THING! Human beings are just too variable, we all have the baggage of our particular genetics, history, fears and wants.

This means that even when we exercise in a group, there is a huge range of variability and you have a responsibility to look at what is both good and safe for you to engage in. If this wasn’t true we wouldn’t have specialist participants, (who ‘play to their strength’), in every team sport that I can think of! Why, then do we imagine that synchronised mass step aerobics, for example, is suiting everyone and yet you don’t see anyone doing their own thing. Peer pressure – think for yourselves!

Most, if not all of this more mature age group, carry injuries. Most will have arthritic changes. The fast, twitch muscle fibres are fast disappearing. Recovery times are longer even just after each training session, let alone injuries!

Then, if that is not enough, even those who manage to get to a class, (of whatever type), are so often greeted by these lovely specimens of male and female beauty and physical perfection!

It’s enough to make you run a mile.

BUT DON’T, please don’t. Don’t blame the trainers for your lack of success in class or even for putting you off from taking up a class.

As an Osteopath, I mostly deal with illness and the effects of injury. Personal Trainers deal with wellness and do their best to avoid injury during training. This is an important distinction, especially as we age and I believe we should keep this in mind when we are choosing our direction.

What I think we should do is to ask, “WHERE ARE ALL THE MIDDLE AGED TRAINERS?” Why aren’t trainers staying in the business into their middle years? Why aren’t people of my age taking up training as physical trainers?

Plenty are training as therapists. Why? Perhaps because there are so many people who need treatment and therapy! Why not try and prevent rather than treat?

Let’s face it, these skilled but youthful trainers are wonderful. I have absolutely no criticism other than one that they simply cannot help, and that is their lack of experience in FEELING what I feel.

Most are sympathetic to the middle aged groaning, but aren’t generally empathetic. How can they be?

So, where do trainers go when they get to 35? Why does there seem to be a gap until the emergence of the 65 year old yoga teacher who leads sit-down, ‘aerobics’ in a Care Home?

OK, so I’m going over the top a bit, but I believe that most 40-60 year olds will recognise what I am saying. I try, in my professional life, to encourage exercise, movements, stretching and flexibility to my clients.

Within reason, clinically speaking, I don’t care what they do – If you hate swimming, don’t do it – very good for you but you won’t keep it up. Find your level, use advisors of course, but do what you are going to continue.

Squats or lunges while brushing your teeth. Sumo squats when you stand at the sink. Pull up your pelvic floor and lower abs when weeding the flower bed. Whatever works. Now, this chimes with me with the philosophy that Rannoch Donald is espousing with the 100 Rep Challenge. I strongly recommend you take a little of your valuable time and look at the site and Face Book page and you will see loads of examples of 100 rep sequences. Sure, the macho, the hardened, ‘no pain, no gainers’, the fab abs lot and many more are represented. But you will also find something for you. It’s not how hard you are or even how hard you do it, but that you do it.

Whatever it is!

Find something that fits your life, health state, age and desires. Your motivation doesn’t really matter to anyone other than you, better health, flatter belly, serenity, a better sex life – No one else’s business, but your own – my advice, if anyone cares, is to get your starting premise right and then design your own regime.

Rannoch Donald, Jonathan Lewis, Christian Vila, Steve Cotter, Mark Stroud and many others have great ideas about fitness and can give you a fantastic programme, but, (and I think they would all agree), they will all tell you to be clear about your objectives, don’t just follow the latest trends – think about how their method and advice will fit for you and your lifestyle.

So, what do I want from my exercise regime? None of your business. You have to work out what suits you and do what it takes to achieve it, (with a bit of professional help and guidance, of course).

Good luck.

SHOULDER EXERCISE – MOBILIZATION USING FIT BALL

References;

Wikipedia defines the general population that use personal/physical trainers “as an age range of 18 to about 50 (45 and younger for males, 55 and younger for females)”. One internet thread I found asked, ‘what is the average age of trainers?’ and was full of well intentioned individuals with great mission statements, but not one of them was over 31!

There are a few certification courses for older trainers and for those training older individuals, but they seem mainly to be in the US.

Interesting article on STRENGTH TRAINING FOR THE OVER FIFTIES

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Posted in Fitness, General Comments, Golf Related, Personal Training, Rotater Cuff Injuries, dislocation

Soldier-Shoulder Abuse & The Rotater!

May 4th, 2010 1 comment »

This testimonial came through to us from a client who has been using The Rotater during his time at officer training at our most prestigious academy. So, ‘no names, no pack drill’ and no photo’s for the obvious reasons, but it is great to hear from a professional ‘shoulder abuser’ who is using the device to get through his ‘working day’. So, all credit to just one of our selfless lads preparing to do his duty. Many thanks to Dan for his considered comments.

Dear Andrew,

I have indeed been using the Rotater and it has proved to be useful in relieving the aches and strains – particularly those associated with carrying heavy bergens and daysacks for extended periods of time. I find this activity caused a person to slightly hunch and turn their shoulders inwards to compensate for the load across the back. This effect coupled with the need to have a two handed grip on the rife which is carried across the body with one hand on the pistol grip and the other supporting under the barrel area of the weapon really limits the mobility in the upper body.

It’s a useful activity to spend a few minutes in the evening after a loaded march using the Rotater – especially that movement where you have your upper arm parallel to the floor, arm at 90°, fingers pointing forwards and then push your elbow back – opening up the chest and loosening off the muscles at the front of the shoulder that seem to tighten over time and cause you to walk with rounded shoulders – like a boxer.

I have been boxing again this term so the stresses and strains on my shoulders were eased by using the Rotater and keeping them a bit more supple.

I lent the device to my friend who is a great swimmer and was complaining of tightness in the shoulders following a lot of front crawl. He used it for a couple of weeks and was very enthusiastic about its benefits to him so perhaps swimmers are another potential group of people to explore?

I hope this helps, apologies once again for the delay in sending this field report.

Daniel.

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Posted in Fitness

Tags: military training PT route march training aids

Muscle & Fitness Magazine Reviews the Rotater

April 20th, 2010 No comments »

The May issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine has chosen the Rotater as its ‘Gear of the Month’. This is what they have to say;
“When it comes to your rotator cuffs – those critical muscles that stabilise your shoulder joints – chances are you don’t train or stretch them enough. This could be the weak link in your heavy delt and pec work because if these muscles are untrained or get injured, many of your chest and shoulder lifts will the suffer. With the Rotater you can easily stretch and train these vital stabilisers and dramatically reduce your chance of injury. Do your shoulders – and mobility – a favour and check it out.”

Get yourselves a copy on the newstand or check out their online version

Get yourself a Rotater at ShoulderCentric.

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Posted in Fitness, General Comments, Muscle & Fitness, Rotater Cuff Injuries

Mat Pearch, K16 UKWA Slalom Champion 2009 & the Rotater

February 12th, 2010 No comments »

I asked Mat Pearch, a fantastic windsurfer, mountain biker and all-round sportsman, who is also currently the UKWA Slalom Champion, to try the Rotater as he has some issues with shoulder stiffness and reduced range of motion, especially in extension. This is what he has to say;

“Hi Andy,
Yeah, getting on well with it. definitely got more movement in my shoulders, my arm goes back at more of an angle now when I use it. I’ve been boxing twice a week with Scott (Welch) and my shoulders are
absolutely dead after a session and the next day so been using it to loosen them up and make them feel normal again. Cheers, Mat”