www.GoCrossover.com Crossover Symmetry is a professional grade rotator cuff and scapular strengthening system that prepares athletes to safely endure the high velocity forces encountered in overhead sports. Utilizing the most current research in sports specific training, upper extremity plyometrics and rehabilitation, Crossover Symmetry is a complete and balanced workout that improves posture and increases the overall strength and performance of the shoulder. Our current clients include 10 MLB teams, 4 NFL teams, 2 NBA teams, 2 NHL teams, over 100 rehabilitation facilities, and over 100 college sports teams.

How to measure the strength of your (or your patient’s) shoulder external rotator muscle. Physical Therapy Diagnosis is predicated on simple, reliable and standardized measurements.

How to precisely measure shoulder external rotator strength and range-of-motion using a universal goniometer. See all of the Physical Therapy Diagnosis and Treatment videos and downloads at www.Physical-Therapy-Videos.com .

AskTheTrainer.com Dumbbell Internal rotation is an isolation movement for the subscapularis. Try to keep your elbow completely steady while your perform this motion. This exercise is only necessary if prescribed by a physical therapist or rehab specialist. AskTheTrainer.com

A demonstration of a rotator cuff strengthening exercise as performed in a physical therapy clinic. See all of the Physical Therapy Diagnosis and Treatment videos and downloads at www.Physical-Therapy-Videos.com .

Weekend Warrior – Part 1 – “The Bum Shoulder”

Do you love playing sports? Do you participate in a master’s league sport? Is it hard to make time to practice outside of games? Well, games are more fun anyway…right?!

Of course! That is, if you don’t have tendonitis or if you don’t get injured. Right now, as I’m writing this, there are 30 guys at my gym who are playing a weekend game of ‘pick-up’ basketball. And guess what? Without fail, every Saturday, one of them (at least) gets hurt, or leaves the game because “my shoulder (knee, ankle, elbow) is killing me!”

While this is good for business, it’s not good for you. It’s time that you learn how you can strengthen those painful joints in just a few minutes a day so that you don’t have to worry about ‘old age catching up.’ The fact is that we spend our whole day in a chair at work, or in front of a computer, or reading, or doing something else that has us in a terrible posture, slouched or hunched forward. Normally, when we leave work we crack our necks once or twice, wish for a massage, and then assume all is better the next day. Well, it turns out that we are actually doing slow, but successive damage to our joints.

Did you know that your head position can cause tendonitis in your shoulders? It’s true. ‘Forward head,’ meaning your ear is not lined up with the top of your shoulder when you look from the side, actually puts stress on your rotator cuff. ‘Forward shoulders,’ as the name implies, creates a similar or greater stress on your rotator cuff muscles. This stress eventually leads to tendonitis, or sometimes even a rotator cuff tear that requires surgery.

By performing a couple of back strengthening and head retraction exercises, which you can do while sitting at work in less than 10 minutes, you can avoid, if not eliminate these problems. The muscles that you’re going to want to strengthen in your back are:

o Rhomboids

o Middle/Lower Trapezius (“Traps”)

o Posterior Deltoid

o Lattisimus Dorsi (“Lats”)

So go out there and find some exercises to strengthen these muscles and avoid injury! If you are having trouble or you are unsure about what the best method might be, don’t be too proud: Seek the help of a fitness professional or physical therapist. We’d be happy to help you create a foundation for healthy living and injury prevention. The human body is a complicated machine. It’s wise to avoid learning through experience when dealing with any complicated machine, especially one that hurts through experience!

Kareem Samhouri, DPT, HFI is a doctor of physical therapy, an exercise physiologist, and a certified health and fitness instructor. You can join his FREE video newsletter by logging on at: www.globalfitnessllc.com

Use ice to decrease pain