#Scapular Strength

Two of my favorite exercises to target posterior rotator cuff and scapular retraction 💪🏼

Here’s the key to fixing scapular winging that takes into account all the important variables that influence it ✅💪🏼 If you want a comprehensive approach to fixing shoulder mobility and pain, check out my No B.S. Guide To Shoulder Health! Link in bio. Alternatively, if you’re a personal trainer, coach, or physical therapist, registration for my February 2026 Live Biomechanics Course is now open! This course is my single best product and will teach you how to assess, understand, and fix cases like this. Link to learn more in my bio. Credit to @anatomy.of.motion for the shoulder anatomy visual. This exercise is a modified @posturalrestoration drill

Physiotherapists design tailored exercise programs to address your specific shoulder issues and improve overall function. Today, we're focusing on scapular stabilization, by strengthening the muscles that control the shoulder blade to improve overall shoulder mechanics. Registered physiotherapist Bronwen, demonstrates 3 exercises to help scapular stabilization! EXERCISES: 👉 Wall Slide 👉 Scapular Push-up 👉 Scapular T's QUESTION: Which exercise of the 3 did you find most effective?! Let us know! Check out our blog! 📝 6 Strengthening Exercises for Shoulder Pain #shoulderpainexercises #scapularstability #scapularpushups #shoulderexercises #shoulderstability #kitchenerphysio #cambridgephysio #kitchenerphysiotherapy #cambridgephysiotherapy #galtontario #kitchenerontario #cambridgeontario

✅ Comment "𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗫" to get my 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 program in my app for your first 𝟳 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 💯 In addition to this program, you’ll also have access to 𝟭𝟬 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 and 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟲𝟬 more routines within 𝟮𝟱 categorized sections covering the whole body for only $𝟵𝟵 for the whole year ($𝟴.𝟯𝟯/month)! ----- 💥Shoulder Health💥 ⁉️ Struggling with shoulder pain? 👌🏼 Give these a try and see how your shoulders feel afterward! 📌 Improving the strength and coordination of the scapular muscles is important for overall shoulder health as these muscles must work in unison with the smaller shoulder joint stabilizers (rotator cuff) when lifting overhead, carrying loads, throwing a ball, and reaching (just to name a few movements) 🚨 Although you can gain strength in these muscles with rowing and horizontal pressing variations, it's important to add some overhead exercises such as the ones shown here in order to work the scapular musculature through their full range of motion (ideally into scapular upward rotation and posterior tilt, two movements that are commonly not worked enough) 🎥 In the videos shown, the wall provides a nice cue for the hand to slide on and lightly press into, helping to facilitate scapular upward rotation ✅ It's important to reach your hands high and allow your shoulder blades to move up and around your rib cage, as if you're pushing your armpits up and into the wall 💯 Don't worry about trying to pinch your shoulder blades together until the end of the motion in the variations where you lift your hands up and back off the wall 🔥 If you're doing it right, you should feel the muscles between your shoulder blades working and possibly under your armpits as well ----- 🎯 If you need a more 𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗗 program that is individually tailored to you and your specific situation and goals… ➡️ Tap on the 🔗 link at the top of my page @dr.caleb.burgess to apply to 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝟭-𝗼𝗻-𝟭 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 (or comment the word “𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬” here and I’ll DM you the application form) ----- #shoulderrehab #scapularstrength #scapularstability #shoulderpain

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐲𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚? 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧! 🔥 If you’ve been told your 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 is because your 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 ‘𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆,’ it’s time for a reality check. 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝘆𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 (aka ‘winging’ or ‘poor movement’) is often a symptom—not the root cause. 🔍 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝘆𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮? 🔹 Weak or uncoordinated serratus anterior & lower trap 🔹 Poor thoracic mobility 📉 🔹 Over-reliance on passive treatments instead of strength 🔹 Pain itself—research shows pain can change movement patterns 🤯 🚫 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘁? ❌ Constantly “correcting” your scapula ❌ Worrying about the ‘perfect’ movement ❌ Passive treatments without strength training ✅ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀? 𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵! ✔️ 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 🏋️‍♂️ ✔️ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 & 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽 💪 ✔️ 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗢𝗠 🔥 ✔️ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 📈 📚 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: Scapular dyskinesia alone is NOT a reliable predictor of pain (Struyf et al., 2014). 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 & 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. Stop obsessing over ‘scap position’ and start building a stronger, more resilient shoulder. 💥 DM us to get started! #physicaltherapy #physicaltherapist #foryou #foryoupage #physiotherapy #shoulderpain #shoulderrehab #scapularstability #scapulardyskinesis #scapularwinging

Scapula stability. Been sharing this exercise (Prone Y-Raises) several times for the past 3 years (that’s how much I love it), but have never actually shared how to perform it correctly. Here is the most important key points: ✅ Arms in a Y position. ✅ Elbows fully straight. ✅ Shoulders fully extra-rotated. ✅ Scapula depressions (shoulders down) ✅ Lifts up, hold for 2 sec, and repeat for reps. 👉 The reason for the rotation of the shoulders is to involve the rotator cuff and improve shoulder and scapula stability. Think of the thumb pointing upwards. There is a tendency to loose this as we raise the arms. Fight it. 👉 The reason for scapula depression is engagement of the lower traps. Can also be done with scapula elevation for other purposes tho. 👉 Slight bent of the arms won’t kill you, but keeping them fully straight makes it more effective for emphasizing the muscles around the scapula. 👉 I do 2-3x 2/3x per week at the end of my workouts for 10-15 reps + 10 hold on the last rep. This could change based on your goals. Hope this helps! Any questions below. With Love, Gabo

⚾️ Scapular Strength ⚾️ Here is an exercise I have been utilizing a lot with my baseball players. It checks a lot of boxes:

1️⃣ Posterior cuff strength 2️⃣ Scapular strength 3️⃣ Shoulder musculature endurance 4️⃣ Active thoracic extension I typically perform 2-3 sets of 8-10 or until form is lost. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Dealing with shoulder pain? Comment “shoulder” below and I will reach out to you! —- #shoulderworkout #scapularstrength #shoulderrehab #scapularhealth #shoulderendurance #shoulderpain

Your shoulder doesn’t move well without your scapula moving well. These bodyweight drills help build that connection. Add 1–2 of these to your warm-up or daily practice — your shoulders will thank you. #shouldermobility #scapula #scapularmobility #jointhealth

If you’ve ever seen yourself or a clients scapula winging out 🪽when they’re doing exercises or just standing relaxed, add these to the program!! Scapular winging is a dysarrythmia of the shoulder blade, most commonly where the medial border of the scapula excessively retracts and protrudes outwards. You can also see lateral winging but usually this is indicative of some type of nerve palsy. Abnormal scapular movements are a common physical sign, but because it is often asymptomatic - it receives little attention. You won’t start to blame something until you show symptoms of pain, weakness, or cosmetic deformity. So what’s to blame? What muscle is not firing at the right time or at the right intensity or strength? The serratus anterior! The serratus anterior is the main protractor of your shoulder blade, also known as the boxers muscle. Think of a boxer throwing a punch; as their arm comes forward, the serratus anterior contracts to pull the shoulder blade around the ribs and forward. When this becomes weak, scapular winging can occur and lead to a cascade of improper timing of shoulder muscle activation, eventually leading to some type of pain or injury. Start with these 3 serratus movements - both open (not in contact with floor) and closed chain (in contact with floor) movements and challenge the weight and control with these! Or pick up boxing and start swinging those hands 🥊 if you want to make it more functional! In addition, strengthening your local and global scapular stabilizers such as the rotator cuff and lower trapezius is also a fantastic way to ensure those scapulae never wing again. 🪽 As always, SAVE, SHARE, DO ✅ and drop and questions or requests down below ⬇️ • • • • • #scapularwinging #scapularstability #shoulderbladepain #serratusanterior #serratusanteriormuscle #serratusanteriorworkout #serratusworkout #shoulderpain #shoulderstrength #physicaltherapist #revitalizerecovery

Beauty In Disguise —— This beauty right here is a dynamic isometric focusing on building more strength and control in retraction and protraction. - 1️⃣start light and work with sets of 20-30sec 2️⃣focus on a straight and locked elbow 3️⃣keep the line from wrist to shoulder - Especially the protracted position where the scapula retractor muscles are in a lengthened position is rarely trained or isolated. Give this a go and just treat it as a „shoulder finisher“ in your next upper body day😉 - #totalhumanoptimization Redefining Performance. . , . #scapularstability #shoulderblade #shouldermobility #mobilitytraining #rangeofmotion #performancetraining #scapula #shoulderhealth

The scapular push up targets two critical for shoulder health muscle groups, serratus anterior and rhomboids. Start in a plank position and keep your arms completely straight. The movement must come from your scapula, not your elbows. Push your shoulder blades apart raising your rib cage toward the ceiling. This activates your serratus anterior, which wraps around your ribcage and stabilizes your shoulder blades. Now squeeze your shoulder blades together, letting your chest sink between them. This moves your rhomboids between elongated and shortened positions. Most people have rhomboids stuck in one spot from sitting and training through the full range builds strength at every length. Perform 10 to 15 controlled reps and your shoulders will thank you #pushup