External Rotation and the Shoulder: A Match Made in Heaven

External Rotation and the Shoulder: A Match Made in Heaven
Written by Zach Erick

Have you ever heard your coach say to you, “I want to see your elbow pits forward!” or “Show me your armpits!”? No, they do not have some sort of kinky joint fetish (one can only hope), they are trying to get you to externally rotate your shoulders. What may seem like your coach nagging at you for such a minuscule movement will actually help improve shoulder strength, stability, and prevent injury down the long, achey, inflamed road of fitness.

Whenever we push horizontally, whether it be a pushup or bench press, we need to create a strong position for the shoulder by pulling the humerus back into the shoulder socket.

This is easily done by pulling the shoulder blades back and down.

Now that we have established a strong position for our shoulder to push from, lets create some torque. Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. Creating torque in the shoulder socket requires external rotation. Why is external rotation so important? First, it creates a stable platform for the shoulder joint to press from. It also avoids the rotator cuff impinging on the acromion.

You may be able to perform hundreds of pushups without creating torque, but you are heavily stressing your rotator cuff and possibly impinging the shoulder. Not only will the rotator cuff become inflamed, eventually leading to tendonitis, bursitis, or impingement, but you’re also setting yourself up for failure with more complex movements such as the snatch, which also requires external rotation of the shoulder in the overhead position.

Coach Nuno once asked me, “What is the difference between the ordinary and the elite?” I came up with a few smart-ass answers off the top of my head, such as high arches, great hair and strong tooth enamel. But the real answer was – “very little”. Externally rotating the shoulders is a small change that will make a BIG difference while performing pushups, bench press, strict press, snatch, dips, etc. and it’s so easy to do, so why not just… do it? You’ll be happy when you are hitting PRs pain free when you are in your 40’s or 50’s. Cortisone shots hurt, and fish oil can only do so much, so set your shoulders up for success by listening to your coach when they cue you.