Landmine Exercises for Shoulder Pain
Physiotherapy treatment and rehabilitation exercises for a painful shoulder don’t have to be difficult.
We’ll show you how to use a landmine press to rehabilitate shoulder injuries, so that you can get back to the gym and sport as soon as possible.
One of the most common shoulder complaints that Physiotherapists treat in clinic is shoulder pain with pressing activities.
Pressing activities include push ups, shoulder presses, handstands, or even reaching up into a high cupboard.
WHY ARE SHOULDER INJURIES SO COMMON?
Your shoulder joint is one of the most mobile joints in your body, having huge amounts of movement in 3 major movement planes - Sagittal, Coronal and Transverse.
Stability at the shoulder joint is provided mainly by muscles, which is in contrast to a joint like the hip where stability is provided by deep bony sockets and multiple thick ligaments.
What does this mean for the shoulder?
As shoulder stability is heavily reliant on the muscular system, it means that the muscles have to be well coordinated, activated when needed and strong enough to deal with the loads that are imposed on it.
For people who play lots of sports, or have an occupation that requires regular shoulder use, their risk of shoulder injury is heightened as there will be increased demands on the shoulder stability muscles.
When the demands of someone's sport or activity exceeds that of their muscular stability, an injury is likely to occur!
CAUSES OF SHOULDER PAIN
Every individual's shoulder injury will be different, with their own individual contributing factors.
However, there are some common causes that we see.
Poor Scapulothoracic stability
This describes the muscles that look after the movement between the shoulder blade (Scapula) and the Thoracic wall (mid back and rib cage).
It is especially important in those with frequent shoulder activity at or above shoulder height, as your scapula will need to rotate upwards to get your arm up effectively, reducing the impingement on the shoulder and its tendons.
People likely to be affected by this include swimmers, Crossfit athletes and electricians!
Poor Scapulohumeral stability
This describes the group of muscles called the rotator cuff that keep the head of your shoulder bone within the shoulder joint on the scapula!
Powerlifters and gym goers who do alot of Bench pressing, or tennis players that rotate and swing their arm repeatedly need excellent rotator cuff control for optimal function and reduced injury risk.
Poor Core and Lower Limb Integration
Building up your rotator cuff and scapula stability is just part of a bigger clinical picture.
When it comes to more complex movements, especially during sporting activities, we need to look at the bigger picture.
Namely - how well is the athlete able to transfer force from the ground, through the feet and legs, to the core and off to the upper limb.
If there’s a breakdown in any part of the kinetic chain, it may lead to an overload at the shoulder to compensate, resulting in a higher injury risk.
BENEFITS OF USING A LANDMINE PRESS FOR SHOULDER PAIN
One of our favourite rehabilitation exercises for shoulder pain is to use a landmine press.
Here are some of the main reasons why it’s so helpful !
Lower pushing angle. The landmine allows you to continue doing ‘pushing’ work, while not necessarily having to push directly overhead which tends to be quite an aggravating activity.
Acts as a reference point. With one end of the landmine in the ground acting as a reference point, it allows you to ‘feel’ the movement more, particularly helpful in a rehabilitation setting.
Increased core and lower limb engagement. Because of it's set up, even just holding the barbell in a resting position engages your core and legs. Once you add weight and start pressing, your core and legs have to work to maintain your stability, making it a full body exercise.
HOW TO USE THE LANDMINE
Let’s take you through a series of 3 exercises on the landmine, that directly addresses the 3 main causes of shoulder pain that we outlined above.
Landmine Scapula Protraction
An excellent isolation exercise to encourage better ‘protraction and upward rotation’ of the scapula. This means better overhead shoulder function.
Muscles here that we’re targeting include the serratus anterior and the lower trapezius, both are prerequisites and crucial for healthy shoulders.
Keep the elbows straight, and just think about reaching your arm forwards!
2. Landmine Press
A perfect re-introduction into pressing and overhead movements, the landmine press allows you to press at a diagonal angle, which is typically much more tolerable than upright pressing.
This means that we can keep you active, maintain your muscle strength, and focus on improving scapular stability throughout your rehabilitation program.
It also has an added benefit of engaging your core as you’re performing the landmine press. Your core has to work to prevent the weight from pushing you backwards.
3. Landmine Push Press
An advanced version of the landmine press, the push press now integrates more dynamic lower limb movement into the exercise.
This exercise is a great progression especially for athletes who have trouble transferring force from their legs to their arms! Common sports this is required for include tennis, basketball and baseball.
CONCLUSION
The 3 exercises shown can be implemented as part of a complete shoulder rehabilitation program, with a goal to get you back to your active lifestyle.
For a complete, bespoke physiotherapy rehabilitation program that helps with shoulder pain, reach out to us here to schedule a consultation with our Physiotherapy team.
We will thoroughly assess you and create an exercise program that addresses your specific needs, while gradually progressing you until you reach your desired goals.
About the Author
Ryan Tan is our Clinical Director and Physiotherapist here at Physiologic Hong Kong. He’s had over 10 years of experience as a sports and musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. During that time, he has been upskilling his expertise in shoulder injury management with industry specialists like Dr Jeremy Lewis. Ryan now works closely with Orthopaedic Shoulder Specialists to provide collaborative care and expert Physiotherapy treatment to those suffering from shoulder injuries. If you have a complex shoulder injury that hasn’t been able to be resolved, contact us for a no obligation assessment!
