Circular motion and the shoulders

I have been thinking about circular motion recently because every movement seems to involve rotation.  The shoulders require rotation to stay healthy.  The only way to stabilize the shoulders and avoid injury is to rotate them back so that they are anchored and supported by the back and chest muscles.

Stick you right arm straight out in front of you and make a hitch hiker thumb with your right hand.   If you supinate or spiral your right arm away from your body (rotate your thumb clockwise) and pull you shoulder blade back while touching your right shoulder with your left hand you can feel the shoulder roll back.  Once you feel this you can then turn your lower right arm in or out while keeping the shoulder rotated back.  Your shoulder is now supported.

When lifting weight overhead you want the shoulders to be supported but you don't want them locked, so you want to think of supinating your shoulders while spiraling you arm pits forward.  Remember your shoulder joint is the apex of several different bones connected by numerous connective tissues.  This joint is weak and vulnerable when you think of it consisting of only the  humerus and the shoulder socket and because your deltoids are small muscles your shoulder is weak when rolled forward.  That is why it is important to support your shoulders by engaging your pecs, lats, serratus (the "wings") and rhomboids (and your core through your hips and into your legs.)   Your body is a chain and like a chain the links (bones) are rigid but the tissue must be supple and the whole must be capable of supporting weight through the assistance of its neighbors through proper alignment.

So sit up straight, keep your chest up, your shoulders back (but not too far) and breath.