so my mother told me back when i was like 12 that my right shoulder hung lower than my left. She suggested that i stop throwing my book bag over only the right shoulder. i then wore it on both shoulders and on with life i went.
today in a dressing room the mirrors were angled kind of weird (or i guess good- for a dressing room, since it allowed me to get a perfect view of my back and front at the same time), and i saw this imbalance again.
anyway, im not freaking out about it or anything. as far as i know it hasnt limited my upper body strength or anything, at my weakest for the past two years ive still been able to squeeze out 1 rep bench at 315lbs and can row 225lbs for 8-10reps. pullups, dips, etc., none of this is a problem for me.
basically, at this point i think its just a cosmetic issue, that id like to fix if i could.
i know that ive seen shoulder imbalance articles on here, but cant remember who wrote them, or if they even address issues like this.
please help. advice, links to said articles, etc. its all appreciated. thanks!
The articles that spring to mind are the Shoulder Savers and Neanderthal No More series, I think the latter particularly might help you.
Is your ‘lower’ shoulder also more internally rotated? If it’s schoolbag-induced then I’m guessing so… if that is the case then unilateral face pulls might be good bet, the regular version has worked wonders for my posture and if you do them one side at a time it should become clear if you’re lacking balance in that area as well.
Beyond that I’m interested as to what people have to say- ‘schoolbag shoulder’ is a huge issue posturally and must affect a hell of a lot of people. I remember seeing a documentary where they used a plumbline to demonstrate how much a heavy bag can pull a kid’s spine out of alignment, it was shocking…
I had an imbalance in my shoulder due to benching and pressing in general. Not enough back work for me. Even though your overall poundage on the row is more than bench, you should try and row heavier weights than just 225. 225 and 315 is a big gap. That should help even out your strength between your chest and back.
Do you have any pain? Or is it just that your shoulders are rounded?
[quote]tw0scoops2 wrote:
I had an imbalance in my shoulder due to benching and pressing in general. Not enough back work for me. Even though your overall poundage on the row is more than bench, you should try and row heavier weights than just 225. 225 and 315 is a big gap. That should help even out your strength between your chest and back.
Do you have any pain? Or is it just that your shoulders are rounded?[/quote]
i dont think there is much of a gap between my chest and back strength. i think that 315lbs for 1 rep and 225 for 10 is pretty even. 225 for ten might be a little “more” in fact. the fact is simply that its easier and safer to do a max on a bench press than it is on a bent over row.
thanks for replies. ill check out those articles too from the first response.
also, to answer the question about pain, no i dont have any. as i said, i havent ever noticed this having any effect on my workouts or my life, at this point its purely a cosmetic issue.
also, my shoulders dont appear “rounded” either. to me, rounded is what arnold’s looked like if he was not intentionally posing to keep his shoulders wide. after re-discovering this imbalance, i cant even notice it from the front, only from looking at my back.