November Move of the Month: Saturday Night Fever
Photo courtesy of Luke Spencer
Saturday Night Fever might mean something else to you, but in this case it's a pretty cool exercise that strengthens the shoulders.
You have heard me say this before, "you can have a physique that makes your shoulders look strong, but still have weak shoulders!" It's important to build your shoulders from the base, meaning start strengthening the rotator cuff muscles FIRST and then hit the deltoids. When you work on strengthening the smaller, stabilizers (rotator cuff muscles), keep in mind that light weight and high reps are KEY. If you go heavy in these exercises, the stabilizers "turn off" and the deltoids jump in to make lifting that heavier weight successful.
This exercise for the shoulders works not only the rotator cuff muscles, but also the muscles in the "back body". In previous posts, I have also talked about how we MUST focus our training on working the muscles of the back body. The muscles in this exercise focus on the rear deltoids.
Here is how the "Saturday Night Fever" exercise is performed:
* Start with good posture (knees soft, core tight and shoulders down and back)
* Position one weight at your belt buckle area and the other weight around "ear" height.
* Alternate moving your hands.
Saturday Night Fever Shoulder Exercise from Heather Herbeck on Vimeo.
Saturday Night Fever Shoulder Exercise from Heather Herbeck on Vimeo.
Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps SLOW and CONTROLLED, 3-4 times a week.
This exercise will help increase shoulder stabilization and strength for stronger paddling, more balanced shoulders, improved posture and for injury prevention.
See you on the river,
Heather Herbeck
Heather offers online training to improve fitness or sport performance. If you have any questions, please contact her at fitnessportevolution@gmail.com
*** This exercise is NOT for everyone. Please see your Doctor if you have questions as to whether or not it is right for you.
