Chest Expanders for Shoulder Rehab and Stability

[Joshua Naterman]

Hey guys, I made this video for all of you who are either suffering from shoulder injuries or would like a stronger and more stable shoulder girdle.

As always, let me know what you think. This is all I could cover in one video, it covers the exercises that are specific to the chest expanders. I only included exercises that help directly with stability. I left one out, unfortunately. When you pull down behind your neck, reach out to the sides. THis is to develop scapular mobility. You can also see this in action in one of Ido's videos, I think. I'll put it in a second video sometime next week along with other accessory exercises for shoulder stability with bands.

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[Nick Van Bockxmeer]

I use bands a lot, at the moment maybe three times a week for about 15 minutes. I don't have ones with handles, I just bought a some 5m rolls from a physio and cut bits off. I do some stuff just holding each end and some other stuff where I wrap it round my stall bars at different heights.

[Amebix138]

Good video, thanks.

[Charles Weill]

Another great video Slizz! I will be stopping my current SSC to work on my shoulder stability. I just ordered some Lifeline resistance bands for the job: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00069CP26/ref=oss_product to work on Ido's shoulder prehab routine. I think they may be too long for your routine shown, but I have a shorter one for that.

For us newbies, here is the link to Ido's prehab video on his site:

http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2009/07/preparations-for-our-daily-training.html

Now for my question: How many reps and sets for rehab? Do you recommend 10-15 reps with a ten second hold at the end for each exercise on each arm like Ido?

[Joshua Naterman]

For most of the exercises Ido shows, the way he shows them, the higher reps are better. I do think that, in the beginning, higher reps can be good, and for warm up they are very useful, but eventually outside of warm ups I would prefer to work down in the 5-7 rep range.

Part of the reason I use lower reps is that my reps take longer. Watch Ido's video. He does 2 second reps(1 second contract, momentary pause, 1 second eccentric) where I do 5 second reps(2 second contract, 1 second hold, 2 second eccentric). The tempo he is using is fine for healthy shoulders, but is too fast for unstable or injured shoulders, especially for what I am showing.

The slower speed, just like with other exercises, allows your body to develop more stabilization and connective tissue strength through more consistent loading. This has been my personal experience. If you notice, most of the exercises he shows have relatively small ROMs, which keeps the shoulder in more or less the same position in the socket. They are good exercises, and I'm not suggesting otherwise. He's specifically building stability in the extreme ROMS. When you've got unstable shoulders, you need more than that. However, like I said in the video, if full ROM hurts, you decrease it until it doesn't, and you work that for a while before extending the ROM.

Another difference between the exercises is the band length. The tension in Ido's exercises doesn't change as much as it does with the chest expanders. The chest expanders increase in difficulty much more per inch of stretch because of the shorter band. This makes them good for strength work. Done correctly, this is also good for rehab, but like I said, you have to base everything around how your joints are feeling.

I've found that doing single sets many times throughout the day works best. 5-10 sets more or less evenly spaced through the day works well for me, and I do them 2-3 days a week. When I was first starting I went very, very light and worked 4-5 days a week for a few sets, and as stability has gotten better I have been switching to 3 days a week usually, with heavier resistance and sets spread throughout the day.

[Charles Weill]

Thanks a lot for the in depth reply.

I am currently following a MWF schedule and am doing 2-3 sets a day of both of your work outs. I feel that your exercises work the dorsal plane muscles and shoulder more, whereas Ido's work the ventral side muscles and shoulder more--if you know what I mean. I am using only one of the red Lifeline bands for all the exercises and focusing more on GTG with light weight. I will focus on 5-7 slow reps like you recommend without increasing the weight. I am still in a bit of an experimental phase.

I linked this topic in my log. I will keep you updated on my progress.

[Charles Weill]

I'm on day my second Monday of following your advice, and it's helped a lot. I find that my shoulders "click" a lot less since I have been working with the chest expanders GTG style. I will probably continue to use these exercises after my shoulders heal as a warm-up tool. Thanks again for the vid!

[Joshua Naterman]

Awesome! I'm glad the video is helping!

I have also been experimenting with my girlfriend's sister's massage chair, and after 30 minutes of having it continuously knead my right shoulder (15 min posterior delts and traps, 15 minutes of medial deltoid) I feel incredible. My shoulder is more stable and my scapula is moving better. Tomorrow I'm going to get 30-45 minutes in again, this time concentrating on the front delts and my elbows I think. I'll keep you guys updated and probably put a thread up in this section once I'm sure about my results.

[jl5555]

If you have access to a jacuzzi or other water with strong jets one of the best ways to provide specific pressure to muscles is by directing the jets onto them. I use it for my forearms after I've been doing handstands: amazing!

(btw, farting in the bathtub does not work, tried that already...)

[Joshua Naterman]

HAHAHA!!!

When I have a hot tub, I'll be all over that! Funny enough, I'm going to be building some geothermal cooling for the house, and some solar water heaters over the summer, and cast myself a cheapo concrete soaking bathtub. I'll have to remember to put an inlet and outletfor some water circulation via pump to get that jet effect! Ghetto hot tub, here I come!