| The shoulder musculature combines two major abilities | | | | Strengthening of the scapulothoracic muscles can be |
| in the function of the upper limb, moderate strength | | | | achieved by rowing and pushing movements with the |
| and extreme mobility. The shoulder is the most mobile | | | | arms, making the movements slow and steady to |
| joint in the body and designed to allow us to put our | | | | allow the muscles to work as hard as they can |
| hands anywhere we want in front of our visual field so | | | | through the greatest range possible. The rotator cuff |
| we can perform often intricate actions. The shoulder | | | | muscles work in general movements of the shoulder |
| socket is small and the ball of the upper arm bone is | | | | but can be isolated by performing internal rotation and |
| very large in comparison, making it the job of the | | | | external rotation of the shoulder with the arm in by the |
| shoulder muscles to place control and safely manage | | | | side. Supraspinatus strengthening is performed by |
| the placement of the two parts of the shoulder joint. | | | | doing dumbbell lateral raises but this can be an |
| The shoulder itself occurs between the scapula and | | | | aggravating movement, leading to injury from |
| the humerus, but two other joints make up the | | | | impingement or supraspinatus tendinitis |
| shoulder complex, the acromioclavicular joint and the | | | | The deltoid muscle functions to lift the arm up against |
| scapulothoracic joint. | | | | gravity or with a weight and typical exercises are |
| The four joints of the shoulder complex mean there | | | | shoulder presses with a barbell or a dumbbell, |
| are several groups of muscles which bear on the | | | | exercises which are better controlled in a sitting |
| shoulder and must be considered when thinking about | | | | position as standing can involve excessive body |
| strengthening. They are the scapulothoracic muscles | | | | movement. The upper trapezius muscle, the large |
| which originate mostly from the spine and ribs and | | | | masses each side of the neck, can be trained by |
| attach to the shoulder blade, the rotator cuff muscles | | | | upright rowing or by a shrugging movement holding a |
| which originate from the shoulder blade and attach to | | | | barbell. Shoulder training needs to be balanced so that |
| the upper part of the arm bone, the deltoid muscle | | | | the strength and mobility of all the muscles groups is in |
| from the shoulder blade to the arm bone and the | | | | proportion and so training needs to carefully planned |
| upper arm muscles which have part of their origins in | | | | and changed regularly. |
| the shoulder joint region. | | | | |