Shoulder Maintenance

Love that bike tube idea! And the vids on breaking muscle are really helpful. Thanks for such great info everyone.

I don't think I'm adding anything new here, but this is just my experience.

I shattered the head of my left humerus in a horseback riding accident nearly seven years ago and had a partial dislocation 6 months ago. I've broken my left arm 3 times, all due to horse related incidents.

I did traditional PT for the first 4 years and could barely get my arm above my head. I started doing yoga regularly and climbing and have seen a huge increase in my mobility and stability. Basically, I rarely notice my left shoulder anymore. I attribute this mostly to the yoga. While rehabbing after my more recent injury, I started to incorporate kettle-balls into this mix.

My advice is
Yoga!
Stretching - so helpful
Kettle-balls, if you are strong enough and it doesn't cause pain.

And don't push it too hard too fast. Learning to listen to my body and to back off when it was telling me that this was too much is still the hardest thing for me. It is so frustrating when I feel that twinge on the 4th climb of the day, but backing down for one day and not being couched for two months is worth it.

Yay yoga!!