In a society poisoned with delusional thoughts of making every elite 12-year-old baseball star
playing in the Little League World Series out to be the next Mike Trout, children are becoming
overworked, over-trained and put behind the 8-ball of orthopedic dysfunction at younger and
younger ages.
Due to the nature of overhead throwing biomechanics, the passive tissues consisting of ligaments,
fascia and tendon-bone insertion points of overworked musculature are placed in a precarious
position for injury, especially as frequencies and training loads are increased. This, in combination
with year round specialty sport training, causes a cascade of hazardous chronic inflammation and
mechanical breakdown of tissues, especially those still developing in younger athletes.
Over training isn’t something surgery can fix. It is something that needs to be monitored and nipped
in the bud before it ever puts athletes at increased risk under the watch of coaches, trainers or
therapists.
THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITIONAL SHOULDER WARM-UPS
The shoulder girdle is one of the most anatomically complex and biomechanically advanced
regions of the human body. The synergistic movement, rhythm and stabilization of multiple joints in
unison are needed to maintain a high level of performance while also decreasing unwanted stress
when it comes to throwing and hitting from an arm overhead position.
One of the most effective and efficient ways to bulletproof the shoulder girdle and elbow against
chronic and acute sport specific injuries is through the implementation of dynamic warm-up
routines preceding any training or competition. Intelligently designed
progressive dynamic activations and warm-up routines are essentially foreign throughout many highlevel athletics. Old habits and routines are sometimes the hardest to break, but yield the greatest
results when achieved.
Today, current warm-up routines for overhead athletes largely consist of modified sport specific
skills such as throwing. If throwing to warm-up for throwing sounds like a sound progression to
decrease injury rates, you are sorely mistaken! Just as you wouldn’t setup for a max effort barbell
lift without first prepping and lubricating joints, increasing tissue temperature and activating active
musculature, an athlete should not move into sport specific movement without taking care of the
protective preparatory work first.
DYNAMIC NEUROMUSCULAR RECRUITMENT
Arm care and preparation for the overhead athlete is an absolutely pivotal aspect of both
performance and health, especially under heavy and frequent training schedules. Turning on
the right muscles at advantageous times, while positioning the active joints to function at their
highest possible levels are necessary for long term function and success.
An often-overlooked aspect of a dynamic warm-up is the neurological training adaptations that it
produces. Without primed neurological conduction capabilities, complex motor tasks become less
precise, thus increasing the risk for unwanted stress and forces through joints and soft tissues.
Enhancing neuromuscular recruitment can be achieved through activating reflex stabilization
properties of active joints and positioning those same joints in a spiral loaded and centrated position.