Reduce the Risk of Shoulder Injury With the Suitcase Walk

SANTA CLARA, California, September 12. G. John Mullen is back, and he has a useful dryland tip that can help swimmers who are in danger of shoulder injury due to overuse.

This exercise will help a swimmer learn how to hold a maximum weight, and depress their shoulder, allowing more shoulder movement. Many coaches feel they appropriately perform shoulder injury prevention programs, but the “typical” shoulder injury prevention program is likely not effective (Hibberd 2012). Many shoulder injury prevention programs do not effectively training the rotator cuff muscles to stabilize or depress the humerus, which is one of their main functions (Richardson 1986).

Directions: Hold the heaviest weight you can safely hold. Next, walk as far as you can with your shoulder blades back. Perform for approximately 20-30 seconds. Make sure not to elevate the shoulders during this exercise.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use