Really great summary of what’s going on there with the soldiers. I think I would question some of those exercises although other things I used to do I’ve learnt a ton in the last few years after lots of injuries and working with the lakes of the things that I’m gonna mention below
Some interesting things for you to maybe look at would be the work of Tom Myers anatomy trains looking at how the body and the muscle systems are encased in these big long chains in case in fascia then looking at something like Foundation training by Dr Erik Goodman really interesting way of working with those big long chains of muscles to create length strength and stability in the body whilst decompressing the lights of the spine and unwinding chronic tension
Give me a shout I actually teach and it be cool to run through a session and get your take on it no charge no expectation.
At 72, after over 60 years of surfing, I have never had a problem with shoulder pain. In my teens and twenties I would often surf two or three times a day and have continued surfing 3-5 times a week since. Starting in my late 20s I have done periods of general strength training, lasting 6-8 weeks, every couple of years and I have always used a 10-15 minute warm up and stretch before entering the water. I have had neck problems at times but these usually followed full head slams at speed. My point is that while all this is useful and we would hope physios are aware of the details, most of us do not need to over think things. When I look at the people I know of my own age very few do anything more strenuous than golf. Many also carry old sporting injuries that limit their activity. Surfing provides intense exercise with a very low injury rate, from either accident or over use. Know when to stop, know when you need a break and chances are you can have a long surfing life. I saw Felipe Pomar out in solid 6-8ft stuff in Indonesia a couple of years ago, his plan is still to be surfing at 100.
I hope to be surfing at that age! According to this review article, which combined results from multiple studies, the incidence of this shoulder pain is between 10-27% of surfers - a very significant number considering this didn't include pre-existing injuries in the data. There are an estimated 20 million+ surfers in the world, so that's a couple million shoulders that may benefit from strengthening the external rotation movement pattern. And given that these exercises can be done relatively easily and quickly, and that strengthening opposing muscles is well-evidenced to increase power output of the lats, I'd say it is well-worth the effort for short- and long-term shoulder health. Thank you for your input, I appreciate the engagement on these posts!
Hi Kevin it is great to see someone working in this area. Have you considered submitting your work to surf web sites? As far as I know I am the only one of my original local group still surfing but I think it will become more common in the future. The awareness of the importance of diet and exercise has increased steadily over the years and medicine has advanced significantly. I am always sceptical of claims based on limited data. In this case you would need to drill down into the various studies to identify the extent that their cohorts could be considered typical. Self-reporting always raises suspicions and questionnaires can be designed to lead to desired outcomes. Statistics based on patient numbers also run the risk of not being seen in the context of the whole population. That said, the idea of getting a bit of a paddling power boost appeals to me so I will try the exercises. My endurance paddling is still pretty good but I have definitely lost some power when chasing waves.
Really great summary of what’s going on there with the soldiers. I think I would question some of those exercises although other things I used to do I’ve learnt a ton in the last few years after lots of injuries and working with the lakes of the things that I’m gonna mention below
Some interesting things for you to maybe look at would be the work of Tom Myers anatomy trains looking at how the body and the muscle systems are encased in these big long chains in case in fascia then looking at something like Foundation training by Dr Erik Goodman really interesting way of working with those big long chains of muscles to create length strength and stability in the body whilst decompressing the lights of the spine and unwinding chronic tension
Give me a shout I actually teach and it be cool to run through a session and get your take on it no charge no expectation.
Thanks for pointing those people out, I'll give their work a read through! That would be great, would love to learn more.
At 72, after over 60 years of surfing, I have never had a problem with shoulder pain. In my teens and twenties I would often surf two or three times a day and have continued surfing 3-5 times a week since. Starting in my late 20s I have done periods of general strength training, lasting 6-8 weeks, every couple of years and I have always used a 10-15 minute warm up and stretch before entering the water. I have had neck problems at times but these usually followed full head slams at speed. My point is that while all this is useful and we would hope physios are aware of the details, most of us do not need to over think things. When I look at the people I know of my own age very few do anything more strenuous than golf. Many also carry old sporting injuries that limit their activity. Surfing provides intense exercise with a very low injury rate, from either accident or over use. Know when to stop, know when you need a break and chances are you can have a long surfing life. I saw Felipe Pomar out in solid 6-8ft stuff in Indonesia a couple of years ago, his plan is still to be surfing at 100.
I hope to be surfing at that age! According to this review article, which combined results from multiple studies, the incidence of this shoulder pain is between 10-27% of surfers - a very significant number considering this didn't include pre-existing injuries in the data. There are an estimated 20 million+ surfers in the world, so that's a couple million shoulders that may benefit from strengthening the external rotation movement pattern. And given that these exercises can be done relatively easily and quickly, and that strengthening opposing muscles is well-evidenced to increase power output of the lats, I'd say it is well-worth the effort for short- and long-term shoulder health. Thank you for your input, I appreciate the engagement on these posts!
Hi Kevin it is great to see someone working in this area. Have you considered submitting your work to surf web sites? As far as I know I am the only one of my original local group still surfing but I think it will become more common in the future. The awareness of the importance of diet and exercise has increased steadily over the years and medicine has advanced significantly. I am always sceptical of claims based on limited data. In this case you would need to drill down into the various studies to identify the extent that their cohorts could be considered typical. Self-reporting always raises suspicions and questionnaires can be designed to lead to desired outcomes. Statistics based on patient numbers also run the risk of not being seen in the context of the whole population. That said, the idea of getting a bit of a paddling power boost appeals to me so I will try the exercises. My endurance paddling is still pretty good but I have definitely lost some power when chasing waves.
I have toyed with the idea of submitting some articles, but haven't yet! And same here, any help on paddling is more than welcome in my world.