05/16/2025
Key Points for Risk Factors for Shoulder Injury for Athletes and Lifters
1) Range of motion (ROM), strength, previous injury, and training load were found to be the primary risk factors for shoulder injury in athletes
2) Many of these factors (especially ROM and strength) are modifiable and can be targeted through screening and injury prevention programs
3) Interventions should be sport and or task position-specific due to differing demands on the shoulder across athletic populations
👉 This is a simplistic overview as to why imaging alone SHOULD NOT dictate or justify surgical intervention
👉 This is also why often times you can’t just go to the and do plate external rotation exercises alone and expect that the shoulder pain will resolve
👉 This is also why the “paper exercises your physician gave you” will only get you so far, especially if we are talking higher level tasks such as lifting
👉 The shoulder is a complex and dynamic joint with many contributing factors that often times needs to be stressed in task specific ways so that it translates into whatever your goal or desire is
👉 This is also why Rehab and Physical Therapy can work very well with helping people over pain, injury, and dysfunction because 3/5 risk factors above can be modified or addressed through conservative means without needing medications, injections, and or surgery