2 Simple Drills to Relieve Your AC Joint Impingement
Videos by Michele Vieux
Many-a-CrossFitter has experienced that pinchy pain in the top of the shoulder joint – the AC joint – between the deltoid and the collar bone while snatching, pressing and hanging from a bar or rings. And many times, it is enough pain to keep you from doing those movements at all.
Sometimes the culprit can be tight pecs pulling your shoulder out of alignment. And sometimes it can be due to lack of space throughout the joint. The shoulder has a lot of working parts – bones are close together and muscles, ligaments and tendons are criss-crossing their way through all the nooks and crannies. If the space is limited, something’s bound to be pinched.
Here are two easy drills that you can try to increase the space and range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder so that you can get back to doing your favorite movements like snatching and toes-to-bar without pain.
For this first drill, all you need is a wall to post up on with one hand while you move through various ROM with your other hand. Attacking the mobility in this way allows your affected side to basically just “go along for the ride” through a range of motion instead of actively having to put itself through its own ROM. Keep yourself in the pain-free zone for this.
The second drill can be done without anything but yourself. All you have to do is reach in different planes and directions with the focus on creating space on the top of your shoulder where the impingement occurs. Increasing that space will decrease your pain because all those moving parts in there will have more space instead of rubbing into and pinching each other. Just like the previous drill, this should be completed in the pain-free zone.
If you are experiencing AC joint pain, try these out every day for a week or two and see how your pain-free ROM improves!
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The intricacies of AC joint impingement, especially within the CrossFit arena, serve as a poignant reminder of the vulnerability of our musculoskeletal system during intensive activities. With its interplay of bones, ligaments, and muscles, the shoulder demands a keen understanding for effective intervention. The notion that constricted pectoral muscles can misalign the shoulder or that spatial constraints within the joint can lead to discomfort underscores the importance of biomechanics in formulating solutions. These proposed drills, emphasizing space enhancement and range of motion, highlight the essence of chiropractic principles: facilitating natural movement and alleviating pain. Adopting such holistic approaches paves the… Read more »