So I’m sure you’ve noticed over the past year the mysterious colorful bands hanging from the rack that a select few and I have been using. Some of you have asked me about it, or you have dared to go over and try to decipher them and mimic what you saw someone else doing. These systems of bands and protocols are not for “stretching the shoulders” like many assume. They are actually used to activate muscles that make up the scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT, WHY SHOULD I CARE?
Picture this: All day you sit in a car, sit at a desk, sit in class, sit on the couch, sit in the library, sit in front of a computer, book, phone/texting, etc. And all of these positions force you into a rounded upper back, rounded forward shoulder posture. In other words, grossness. Then you come into the gym and you try to push, pull, and rotate your shoulders through 360 deg. of movement. When you’re already in a compromised position, then try to go through some pretty athletic movement; things start to get pissed off. You start feeling pain in or around your shoulder. This pain can range from minor to major, and without really taking care of the issue; can result in serious damage, like rotator cuff or labrum tears. Believe me, you don’t want those!
There are four protocols with the Crossover Symmetry system: Activation, Recovery, Plyo, and Iron Scap. Activation is used for just what it sounds like; activating the rotator cuff and scap stabilizer muscles that aid in upwardly rotating the scapula and keeping the humeral head (upper arm bone) centered in the socket of the glenoid socket (Socket end of the Scapula).
The Recovery and Plyo protocols are in place to aid in the recovery of those same muscle systems after training, and Iron Scap is a strengthening protocol for the scap stabilizers and rotator cuff. If you would like to learn more about the system on your own, look here.
So this means you should start feeling like shoulders move better, you experience less or no pain before, during, or after training, and your upper body movements should become easier and stronger. Wins all around! We will start learning how to go through these protocols soon, and if you miss a class were we go over them, just ask Coach Jeremy and he will put you on the right track.