TRX Shoulder Strengthening Exercises

TRX Shoulder Circuit

As we have stated before, TRX straps are extremely useful in the rehab setting and can be used in a variety of ways. This video demonstrates a series of exercises to increase shoulder and rotator cuff (RTC) strength. A neglected component of RTC strengthening is actually stability of the core as well as the shoulder! One of the great things about the TRX straps is that it allows you  to strengthening RTC while simultaneously activating the core. 

This series of exercise strengthens each head of the RTC as well as requiring co-contraction of the RTC to stabilize the shoulder. This is important because strengthening without stabilization is useless and will most likely end in re-injury. To maintain this position the core has to activate and teaches patients to activate their core during all upper body activities. This is important because the core is the foundation for all upper body activities. Therefore, strengthening and stabilizing the RTC on a weak foundation would also be a worthless endeavor. This TRX circuit is good for all populations from athletes to weekend warriors, try it!

TRX As A Rehab Tool - Side Lunge

Continuing on with our sample of TRX exercises for the rehab setting, I am going to show you a lateral lunge. A lateral lunge is a good functional activity that simulates many functional activities throughout the day. For example reaching for an object behind the couch or quickly moving out of the way of a moving object.

TRX Lateral Lunge:

Position 1: Standing holding straps taught, lean back slightly while standing with feet together. Pull belly tight. 

Position 2: Take a step to the right with 80% of weight on right lower extremity. Use straps as needed, while keeping straps taught. Point foot lateral slightly, making sure to point knee towards foot. Pull belly tight.  Return to neutral position. Mirror position to left as well. 

TRX As A Rehab Tool

As we have discussed before TRX (Total Body Resistance Exercises) straps are very useful as a rehab tool. There are many times that patients are unable to perform functional activities like a squat or a lunge, but would benefit hugely from them. A TRX lunge is basically a way to perform a lunge without placing full body weight on the low extremities. A lunge, like all functional exercises, is a great way to strengthen the legs in a way that mimics every day life. For example think about how you tie your shoe, or how you pick a heavy box off the floor. A lunge is a better way to strengthening the legs than a squat machine or a knee extension machine because machines restrict movement to certain planes and ranges of motion. By restricting movement into certain planes and ranges, the movement becomes less and less functional because most movement does not take place in those small ranges. TRX straps are a way to progress to full weight bearing activities in functional movements without putting undue stress on injured or weak structures.

TRX Lunge

Position 1: Standing holding TRX straps taught, leaning back slightly, feet shoulder width apart and slightly pointing out. 

Position 2: Lean back keeping TRX straps taught. Extend back leg with knee bent to 100degs. Bend front knee keeping weight on heel (Keep 90% of weight on front knee). Return to position 1 again. 

Using TRX As a Rehab Tool - TRX squat

The TRX (TRXtraining.com) suspension straps are an extremely useful fitness tool with amazing potential in rehab. The TRX straps can be used to help progress those that are unable to tolerate full weight bearing exercises. For example, a patient that has pain in her knees, when she performs standing squats, can use the TRX straps to reduce the amount of pressure on her knees.  Here is one exercise that utilizes this amazing tool. We will introduce a few other TRX exercises the next few weeks.

TRX Squat

Position 1: Standing holding TRX straps taught, leaning back slightly, feet shoulder width apart and slightly pointing out. 

Position 2: Lean back with butt out using straps to unweight legs slightly. Keep shoulders back and back straight (do not let low back curve). Return to position 1 keeping straps taught. 

Are MRIs The End All Be All?

A patient came in the other day with an MRI report in hand that stated that she had several herniated discs in her neck. As a therapist I will always read MRI reports with a grain of salt. There have been many times in my career where an MRI stated conditions that were not necessarily the cause of the problem. Clinicians need to be careful not to assume that an MRI is the "end all be all" in diagnosis. An MRI is only another piece of a larger clinical puzzle. Too many times an MRI report will lead therapist and other clinicians, barking up the wrong tree.

The patient reported that she has numbness and tingling in her right hand that is inconsistent and increases throughout the day.

With this information some therapist might just assume that this numbness is caused by the herniated discs in her neck. Herniated discs in the neck are often the causes of this kind of numbness, however, it is very important to review several clinical tests to confirm this assumption.

First we need to discuss the patient's lifestyle. This patient was an office worker who sits at desk for many hours. She also answers the phone on the right side and stated she feels the most symptoms when sitting at work. After asking several more questions it was clear to me that this patient works in a very stressful environment and works on the computer for many hours without breaks.

After asking questions, looking at the patient's posture it was seen that she sits with her shoulders slouched with her head pushed forward.

The first clinical test we must do is the compression test, where we compress the spine in sitting to see if it increases symptoms. If it does, it is a signs that a neck disc herniation is the culprit. For this patient, this test did not increase symptoms. The next test is the distraction test which consists of pulling the head up when the patient is sitting. If this decreases symptoms it is another sign that a disc herniation is a possible cause of symptoms. For this patient she felt no difference with the distraction test.

Because of this results we can move to another set of tests to check for thoracic outlet syndrome. This diagnosis I can discuss in a future blog. As we went through these test I saw that this patient was actually experiencing numbness in her hand because of thoracic outlet syndrome. This assertion was confirmed by another therapist and neurologist that the patient saw a few weeks later.

If I assumed that the disc herniation shown in the MRI was the cause of this patient's symptom we would have wasted valuable time and energy (as well as money). So, although MRIs are a valuable tool, remember that they are only a piece of the puzzle.