Patrick DenardDirector Oregon Shoulder Fellowship, Oregon Shoulder Institute · Director Oregon Shoulder Fellowship at Oregon Shoulder Institute

Essential Shoulder Strengthening Exercises

8 Apr 2021 · 2 min

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1:40

In this instructional segment, the presenter outlines a four‑exercise shoulder strengthening sequence called the “4‑pack.” The routine uses a resistance band and focuses on precise form to safely build shoulder stability. The first exercise is a biceps curl performed with the band while keeping the elbow close to the body and avoiding swing. The second is internal rotation, where the band is anchored (e.g., to a door handle) and the elbow stays at the side while pulling the band toward the belly. The third exercise is external rotation, starting with the arm across the belly and pulling the band outward, again with the elbow tucked. The final exercise is a low row that emphasizes scapular retraction; the movement is performed at belly‑button height, pulling the band back while picturing the shoulder blades pinching together. The presenter notes that the low row can be done one‑arm or two‑arm depending on the trainee’s ability to maintain consistent arm positioning.

Chapters

These are our core strengthening exercises that you use once you advance into strengthening the shoulder. This is what we call our 4-pack. The first exercise is the biceps curl. You can use a band, step into that band to stabilize it with your foot, and then just with your arm at your side, you want to do simple flexion and extension of the arm. You can come all the way up. It's important when you do this that you're not swinging the arm up, that you're keeping the elbow right at the side. As you can see here, just working the bicep. The next exercise is internal rotation. In this case, we're going to illustrate me holding the band, but you can attach this band to a door handle. You want to keep the elbow at the side and pull in to the belly, pulling all the way in and out. You can do this 10 times. Good. The next exercise is external rotation at the side. You want to, again, keep the elbow at the side, start the arm in toward the belly, Move the band to the opposite side and pull away. You want to go all the way out to the side, working external rotation. The final exercise is the low row. This is one of the most important strengthening exercises to really work on the scapula. You want to keep the arm just about the level of the belly button, pull back, picturing pinching the shoulder blades together, just like as was done with scapular retraction exercises in Chapter 2. You can either do this one arm as demonstrated before, or you can do this with two arms if that helps you keep the arms in constant.