Why the Shoulder is just as important as the hips!

How are they the same?

Every coach says that having a strong set of hips is the key to greater athletic performance. Well it is true that the hips are where most the power is created for basically all sport and all movements but what about the shoulder?

The shoulder is a complex unit of muscles tendons bone and ligaments, just like the hips. The two units function the same the only difference being that the hips connect to the pelvis that has a more solid connection to the body. The shoulder joint all originate from the scapula that floats just above the rib cage on the back.

Now, I am not going to get into every single muscle and every single piece of anatomy. This isn’t a anatomy class and frankly no one wants to read a list of muscles and how they function inside the joint. And if you do then get an anatomy book!

Any upper body movements (outside of core movements) are initiated with the arms and guess where the arm attaches? If you said the shoulder than you would be correct. The hips function in the same fashion.

The hip/shoulder relationship

In sport, if the hips are where all the power is created in the body then the shoulder is the distribution center. In general most sports involve the arms and the power created from the hips needs to be transfer through the shoulder and if the shoulder is weak then there will be a leaking of strength and speed.

When performing strength sports or weight lifting, having a strong set of shoulders is vital for upper back stabilization as well the prior mention of energy transfer.

And of course we have to talk about the injury correlation between the two joints. It has been shown that when there is an imbalance in the hips that the shoulders will eventually acquire some sort of injury or complication.

Why is the shoulder important?

The shoulder joint is important because it creates stability in the upper back as well as performing obvious tasks that involve moving the humerous. Besides the obvious reasons to why it is important let’s look at little deeper.

The overhead press or any other movement where an object is moved overhead is the best display of how the shoulder joint should be used as well as the most natural position for it. Chin ups are also a great example of a proper position of the shoulder.

The reason why anything that has the arms overhead is a good example of optimal positioning is because of the way in which the scapula moves.

As the arm moves overhead the scapula moves out and upward moving out of the way of the head of the humerous.

Now, on the other side of the coin are movements that are not natural for the shoulder. Of course everyone’s favourite, the bench press.

Before you start with the trolling or hate hear me out. The bench press for the shoulders can be hazardous due to the likely hood of impingement. This is where proper coaching of technique will help avoid it. However, back to why the bench press is not an optimal position for the shoulder joint.

First then your bench press there is a chance for the elbows to flare out to the point of impingement and pain which is why tucking your elbows is always stressed while benching.

Any position that has the humerous abducted above the glenohumeral joint with the elbow in a flex position will cause an impingement and is not safe for the joint.

So What?

What is all this talk about anyways? Reading this it should be apparent that this is call to athletes wondering why they aren’t performing as well as they should be. You do all the movements associated with strong hips but for some reason your leaking performance and you can’t figure it out? It could be that you’re lacking strength and integrity in your shoulders.

Start performing overhead movements, shoulder cuff movements, and hypertrophy movements for your shoulders and you will be surprised at the amount of progress and performance enhancement you will see!