If you’re looking for additional guidance in your corrective exercise strategies, experts have a new offering. The 2022 Bern Consensus Statement on Shoulder Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Return to Sport for Athletes at All Participation Levels provides best practice guidelines for clinicians, athletes and coaches for managing a shoulder injury. The statement addresses preventive exercises, screenings for weakness and rehab guidelines.
Components of recommended prevention exercises include those that focus on range of motion and motor control, plyometrics, and both open- and closed-kinetic chain training. The recommendation is that exercises should be conducted in sport-specific positions and cover multiple joints. Exercise targets are rotator cuff imbalances, with a focus on external rotation strength through the range of motion; shoulder girdle strength through the range of motion; dynamic sport-specific trunk function; and control of eccentric arm deceleration.
Here are some examples of exercise for an overhead-throwing athlete:
- external rotation through abduction
- drop and catch in 90º of shoulder abduction
- Y balance test exercises or adapted versions
To see videos of these exercises and more, go to jospt.org/doi/suppl/10.2519/jospt.2022.10952.
The statement is available in Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (2022; 52 [1], 11–28).
See also: Shoulder the Load: Mechanics and Programming for Shoulders
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