Best Sandbag Exercises for Bad Shoulders

Jessica Bento, Physical Therapist (DVRT Bette Backs, Knees, & Shoulders and DVRT Women’s Program Creator)

Why do we keep talking about it? How to prevent injuries! Believe it or not it has little to do with me being a physical therapist, but something I hear time and time again from fitness professionals. It seems to be the biggest obstacle to their success and that of their clients. When injuries strike it can completely deter you from training, or slow you down by weeks and months!

Either way, injuries stink! That is why I am most proud of DVRT as a way to use Ultimate Sandbag exercises to help how people move, perform, and help with so many chronic injury issues.

Shoulders seem to strike people a lot because they SHOULD have so much freedom of movement to them. That is the tricky thing about the body, the areas that should have a lot of movement to them are often victims of lots of injuries.

Without getting too complicated there are some simple reasons that shoulders get beat up….

Bad Core Strength: No, not just the burn you might feel doing a host of core exercises, but learning how to use the core with the hips and shoulders. That means learning how to brace and keep tension why moving through the mobile joints of the body. In other words, your trunk should brace (not move) while your shoulders and hips should be very mobile.

Pressing with the Shoulders: We really try to teach how Ultimate Sandbag exercises can be used to help people understand they don’t press with the shoulders, but with the lats, core, and feet. This can seem like an odd concept as so many are use to classic bodybuilding where a muscle is emphasized.

Unfortunately, that mentality causes people to jam up their shoulders and cause a great deal of damage over time. It is amazing how we have had people with torn rotator cuffs (myself included) that could press without pain once they learned this concept.

Building Dynamic Strength: Of course all movements are dynamic, but they are often very limited to just up and down motions. However, by moving in different planes we can develop strangers shoulders and hips which end up not saving just these areas of the body, but the low back as well.

This is especially true when we get the joints moving in rotation, this helps us maintain functional ranges of motion, but also create strength in these ranges. It is often shocking how many lack both coordination and stability in such training. This is unfortunate as it USE to be a point of emphasis in old time strength training programs. These types of Ultimate Sandbag exercises can do some amazing things for your WHOLE body!

I hear it all the time and it honestly breaks my heart! People telling me that they can’t train because of shoulder pain. Now of course if you have pain, you should see a doctor. If you are cleared to exercise though you should try these drills and if you want to learn more check out my DVRT Better Backs, Knees, and Shoulders program HERE.

I talk about this not only because I had issues, but my Mom went through a shoulder replacement. The saddest part is she didn’t have to but she wouldn’t listen to me (I’m her daughter of course) and now is in more pain and restricted than ever. It doesn’t have to be this way! Learn how doing smart Ultimate Sandbag exercises can make a BIG difference in your fitness and life!