One of my shoulders/traps (left side)
sits way higher than the other side. How do I fix this?
Yes, but relaxed it’s very noticeable.
Tbh i don’t think it’s an issue of bringing the left side down but rather the right side up. It could be a lack of activation within the traps or rhomboids and/or restriction in your pec. Trigger points are often the culprit and they can both present within tissues that are overactive (too tight) or underactive (weak and not contracting to full potential). So in this case, potentially overactive pec underactive scapular muscles.
If you have the money for it, I’ve had a lot of success from dry needing for these types of issues. They can be resolved in one session sometimes especially if you follow through with doing the necessary corrective exercises to reinforce the benefits of therapy.
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Any less expensive alternatives than dry needling?
Yeah. Do a couple extra sets on the weak side, one heavy, one high rep. Or try something different, like overhead shrugs or whatever.
To me it looks like a posture issue more than anything.
No really great alternatives. You could invest in a theragun.
Strength wise these are good.
I’ve got one. What muscles/area do you recommend targeting?
Maybe your left shoulder is High because it’s raised up. You could stretch your left neck/trap and work on building the coordination and strength of the muscles that pull your left shoulder down.
Maybe your right shoulder is Low because your chest is tight and your upper back is loose. You could stretch your right pec and work on squeezing your shoulders back.
Maybe it’s a combination caused by posture and tight muscles. And you’ll need to learn to pull your left shoulder down and squeeze your obliques and glutes on the left side while expanding your chest and retracting your shoulder on the right side.
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Thanks! The shoulders being uneven is such a pain in the ass. I just packed my 50lb bags of chicken feed home (100 yards+/-) I can throw it on the left and never break a sweat. The right… not so much. Seemed like 200 yards. Ugh!
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All of them lol. Gotta play around and see where it’s most needed.
I was looking for a Conor Harris vid before I replied to this thread, he has some good stuff.
I’m dealing with the same issue OP, for me it’s more a consequence of some other unlying things I have going on in the pelvis. Currently doing some stretching while working with an OMM doc twice a month. You might find some value looking into fascial lines
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I had the same thing from always carrying a bag of stuff on my left shoulder. When I used to wear suits and had them “semi-custom” fitted, the tailor would have the right shoulder lowered.
Perfect symmetry is just not possible for most “normal” people due to how one moves instinctively on a daily basis (millions of reps over time). For example(s), if you’re right handed, your left pec will be bigger than your right pec, and your left hip will be fuller/bigger than your left hip with the right quad bigger and also the right foot turned outward more.
I learned recently that because your liver is on the right side of the body, most people will tend to stand at rest with more of a shift to the right side (even if they’re left handed)
First world problems to notice stuff like this lol.
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It looks like I’ve got some good scapular winging going on on the high shoulder side (left side looking at this video from behind). Easy scap winging fixes?
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Nice back!
Here’s a shitty video, dude is pushing his elbows into the wall and thinking about wrapping his shoulder blades around his ribs. Or doing the opposite of winging by keeping his scapula tight against his rib cage.
Once you learn to control that scap control, progress to Planks. Keep that shoulder blade tight against your ribs and learn to make that part of your “core tightness.”
From there start moving from Planks into Downward dog. Basically, it’s like making the arm raise motion you made in your video, while supporting yourself on your elbows. It will teach you to keep that shoulder blade under control and your upper back solid as your arms move over your head.
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