When I first started CrossFit, just like so many others, I became obsessed, fast. As a former D1 Athlete, I had experience with powerlifting, some olympic lifting and HIIT workouts, so I felt as if my experience was more than enough to jump right into CrossFit. I increased the volume and intensity of these new movements much faster than I should have. I had a goal each day to try to Rx the workout, even if it wasn’t in my best interest, just so I could make it up on the leaderboard.  I was having a blast, until my shoulder began hurting. As a Physical Therapist, I know the importance of progressively overloading new movements to avoid injury. I did just the opposite, which led to daily treatments from myself and my coworkers, in order to treat my new onset of symptoms. 

Having worked with many CrossFit athletes as well, I hear this same story over and over again. The first thing most people assume when they begin to experience new aches and pains after starting the sport of CrossFit is that “CrossFit must be bad”. Just like any other sport, there is risk for injury, but there is no evidence that CrossFit injury rates are higher than any other sport. With the appropriate preventative measures and supplementary work, we can reduce this risk for injury substantially. 

SO, WHY SHOULDER PAIN?

• Loading the shoulder in new ways (i.e. handstand pushups, jerks, push press, snatch, etc)

• Poor technique with these new movements and lifts

• Performing these movements at a high volume and high intensity without appropriate mobility or strength 

  • Weakness of scapular stabilizers

  • Compensations leading to increased load on surrounding musculature i.e. biceps, deltoid, upper traps

  • Mobility deficits of the shoulder and/or upper thoracic spine 

So, if you’re a CrossFit athlete with shoulder pain, what can you do about it? When seeing a Physical Therapist, you should receive an in depth evaluation to determine what deficits are contributing to or causing this shoulder pain. Without a full assessment from a PT, the best way to begin is to add in basic mobility and stability exercises.

THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE 

Add in basic mobility and stabilization exercises. Check out a few options I like to give my patients: 

• Mobilize surrounding tissue 

  • Lacrosse Ball Release to Posterior Shoulder - checkout the video below!

• Thoracic mobility 

  • Thoracic Rotation

  • Thoracic Extensions over med ball - checkout the video below!

• Scapulothoracic Strengthening

  • 90/90 KB Shoulder Press

  • Crossover symmetry bands. Check out one variation in the video below.

OTHER TIPS 

Progressive overload is extremely important with any new movements. This means, instead of jumping right in to Rx the workouts, gradually increase the weight, volume of repetitions, or the frequency of performing the same movements. Whether it is with gymnastics movements or weight lifting, do not be afraid to scale the workout accordingly. That can include decreasing your reps, decreasing the load or weight, or modifying the movement. I.e. performing double dumbbell Z press instead of handstand push-ups. You can check out modifications for handstand pushups on our instagram, @athletic_edgept.

IN CONCLUSION

Supplemental work can be extremely helpful in improving not only your pain, but increasing your tolerance to performing CrossFit workouts of higher volume, at a higher intensity.  It takes consistency when incorporating your prehab/rehab exercises into your routine to see results. If you would like to learn more about your specific shoulder pain or would like individualized programming, come see us at Athletic Edge Physical Therapy and we are more than happy to help you out.