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Shoulder Muscles
~ Greatest Range of Motion ~
Your shoulder muscles are one of the muscles that are most vulnerable to injury.
The muscles of the shoulder help to raise your arm out to
the side and also rotate your shoulder in many different directions.
Keeping the shoulder muscles strong and flexible is very important for all of us, but especially for athletes like baseball players,
golfers, basketball players, etc.
You use these muscles in your daily activities such as lifting groceries,
cleaning the house, picking up children, etc.. If you injure your shoulder, picking up even the lightest object can become a problem.
The shoulder has the greatest range of motion of any joint in your entire body, which can lead to joint problems if it's not taken care of.
When working these muscles to add definition to your shoulders make sure you do
shoulder stretches to ensure you're getting the greatest range of motion you can get.
There are many muscles in the shoulders and the main muscles are:
- Deltoid Muscle -
this is the muscle that forms the rounded shape of the shoulder. It has 3 distinct set of fibers; anterior
fibers, posterior fibers and lateral fibers (front, back and side).
The deltoid muscle is the main muscle to move the arm away from the body. For the deltoid muscle to have maximum effect, the arm has to be internally rotated.
This is the largest, strongest muscle of the shoulders. This muscles is activated once the arm is away from the side.
- Rotator Cuff -
located underneath the deltoid muscle, the job of these muscles are to stabilize the shoulders.
It's very important to have good shoulder movement.
There are four muscles that make up the rotator cuff; Supraspinatus Muscle (helps to lift your arm to the side),
Infraspinatus Muscle (rotates arm away from the body), Teres Minor Muscle (also involved in rotating arm away from the body) and
the Subscapularis Muscle (rotates arm towards the body).
These four muscles of the rotator cuff control the rotation and position of the arm.
Since these muscles are small you don't want to use
too much weight or do too many repetitions. Also, be sure to work the front and back muscles equally so they're well balanced.
Your shoulder is also responsible for getting your hand in the right position. It's an extremely complex part of your body. Life can become difficult if our shoulders aren't working the way they're supposed to.
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Other Muscles of the Body:
Neck |
Back |
Chest |
Arms |
Abdominals |
Hips and Butt |
Legs
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