Greatest Shoulder Exercise Ever?

You hear a ton about “pre-hab” work for the shoulder, meaning perform certainly rotator cuff and shoulder work to hopefully prevent injuries before they occur.
This needs to be a part of every baseball player’s routine, both in-season and off.
Did you ever wonder, however, that it seems even though pretty much everyone does the standard band rotator cuff work and maybe some other exercises that injuries haven’t decreased?

It’s interesting to say the least.

Of course, it’s impossible to prevent every injury. And there’s a lot more that goes into an injury that the wrong pre-hab work. After all, our youth are playing baseball more than ever and, maybe even more importantly, playing year round or close to that.

Most arm injuries are not acute and they happen over time.

Point of the story is, while its great to play more games, a line needs to be drawn and the body needs rest to heal the microtrauma that occurs every time you play. When not given the opportunity to heal, this microtrauma can lead to major injury.

Beyond smarter rest, what else can be done. Are there any exercises that can help “protect” the arm and shoulder region?

Here’s what I believe is the greatest shoulder exercise known to man. And virtually no one is doing it. It’s simple & gives the most bang for the buck I’ve ever seen.

Honestly, I have no idea what it’s called…so for this articles sake I’m going to call it the “Doyle Shoulder Saver”, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the name.

1. Grab two light dumbbells – start with 1 pounders and go from there. To give you an idea, I weight 230 pounds and I use 3 pound DB’s, so don’t be a hero with this. More weight will not give you better results – it will lead to injury.

2. Starting Position

3. Squeezing shoulder blades together, perform a bent over row – moving the weight slowly and very deliberately

4. Maintaining elbow position, slowly perform an external rotation.

5. Press the dumbbells straight out overhead

6. Keep arms straight, return to starting position

Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps three times per week.

There you have it, at worst another exercise to add to your arsenal. At best, the greatest shoulder exercise known to man!

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