Oh, those rounded shoulders. I see them everywhere…myself included…especially when I’m tired. They are a nasty byproduct of our modern life full of sitting, computers & cell phones.
Why should we care about rounded shoulders? We should care because they create a cascade of problems that extended far beyond the visible postural issues. For athletes who want to get faster, those rounded shoulders will actually make you slower!
Surprised? You won’t be after this 4-part series. Over the next few weeks, we’ll do a deep dive into how your shoulders directly affect your performance.
- Part 1 is about how the shoulders work.
- Part 2 will analyze how rounded shoulders make you a slower swimmer.
- Part 3 will discuss the connection between shoulders & running performance.
- Part 4 will detail solutions to help you straighten up & get faster!
Let’s jump in! To start, when we talk about “rounded shoulders”, we really have to understand your scapula…better known as your shoulder blades. Healthy scapulae are extremely mobile & they ultimately determine how the shoulders are positioned.
There are 6 different motions that your scapula should be able to do:
- Elevation – Upward motion
- Depression – Downward motion
- Protraction – Forward motion
- Retraction – Backward motion
- Upward Rotation – Rotation upwards
- Downward Rotation – Rotation downwards
If you’re interested in seeing these motions (& the muscles involved), here’s a wonderful video to watch.
Our problems begin when we develop imbalances in the muscles that control scapular position. These imbalances are caused by all sorts of daily life things like…
- Hunching over desks
- Using computers/laptops/cell phones
- Lots of driving
- Carrying heavy loads like kiddos and/or groceries
- Too much focus on chest strength
- Little or no focus on mobility work
All of these things encourage our heads to fall forward in front of our shoulders. Because our heads weigh a significant amount (between 10 to 12 lbs), that forward-leaning posture tightens up chest muscles & weakens upper back muscles. (Here’s an interesting rule of thumb for you: For every inch that the head is held forward in poor posture, an additional 10 lbs of weight is felt on the vertebrae of the neck!!) This imbalance between front & back then pulls those scapula forward & viola, rounded shoulders.
In coming articles, we’ll discuss how rounded shoulders make you a slower athlete; how rounded shoulders counteract all your awesome training thereby keeping you from getting faster. But, aside from performance, rounded shoulders contribute to all sorts of problems:
- Shallow breathing – feelings of fatigue from lowered oxygen intake
- Headaches
- Neck, upper/lower back pain
- Disc herniation
- Degenerative disc disease
- Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease)
- Significant postural problems
- Increased risk of injury
How do you know if you have rounded shoulders? The best way to find out is to ask your spouse, significant other and/or best friend. They see you all the time & they’ll tell you!
There are several tests you can do as well. But the trick with these is that you don’t try to change your posture. You need to stand normally…which can be difficult if you know what you’re looking for! Give a try!
- Knuckle Test – Stand in front of a mirror in your natural, usual way. Don’t try to change how you stand. Now look at your hands. Which way are your knuckles facing? If your knuckles face more toward the front than the side, your shoulders are rounded.
- Chin Test: Stand normally & have a friend take a picture of your side profile. Where your chin in relation to your chest? If your chin is up slightly & aligns with your chest, that’s good. If your chin falls forward & juts out past your chest, your shoulders are rounded.
- Earlobe test: Stand normally in front of a mirror. Your earlobe should be aligned with your shoulder & your shoulder aligned with your hip. If your earlobe, shoulder & hip aren’t all stacked on top of each other, you may have rounded shoulders.
Hopefully this info gives you a better understanding of how your scapulae work. Furthermore, I hope you can see why keeping your scapulae mobile is so critical to your posture….which directly translates to your performance! In the Part 2 we’ll discuss how rounded shoulders literally keep you from being able to swim faster. Stay tuned!
If you’d like to see a few examples of good versus not-so-good posture, take a watch!