Effect of Stretching and Strengthening Shoulder Muscles on Forward Shoulder Posture in Competitive Swimmers
in Journal of Sport RehabilitationClick name to view affiliation
Context:
Imbalanced shoulder muscles might cause poor posture in swimmers, which has been implicated as potential cause of injury.
Objective:
To determine whether a training program can reduce forward shoulder posture.
Design:
Prospective pseudorandomized.
Setting:
College swimming pool.
Participants:
39 competitive swimmers (age 16 ± 2 years) divided into an exercise group (n = 24) and a control group (n = 15).
Intervention:
The experimental group performed a partner-stretching program on the anterior shoulder muscles and a strengthening regimen focusing on the posterior shoulder muscles for 6 weeks. The control group participated in normal swim-training activities.
Main Outcome Measures:
Shoulder posture was measured as the distance from the anterior acromion to a wall using a double-square method.
Results:
The experimental group significantly reduced the distance of the acromion from the wall in a resting posture (–9.6 ± 7.3 mm) as compared with the control group (–2.0 ± 6.9 mm).
Conclusions:
A training routine might reduce the forward shoulder posture present in most competitive swimmers.
The authors are with the Dept of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0200.
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