Simple Drills to Build Scapular Robustness

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The idea of scapular instability is going away. Since the scapulothoracic joint is essentially floating on the rib cage contained within a sling of muscles, having it be 'unstable' would really depend on how you define stability.

The article 'A Critical and Theoretical Perspective on Scapular Stabilization: What Does It Really Mean, and Are We On the Right Track?'  by McQuade, et al. challenges the notion that the scapulothoracic joint can really be unstable. Here is a quote from the article:

Joint instability is characterized by mobility that exceeds physiological limits without adequate control. When applied to the STJ, this suggests that the orientation or trajectory of the articulation would not be recoverable following a perturbation. Because this foundational definition is difficult to apply directly to the scapula, the term scapula stability has come to imply “normal” scapula movement on the thorax during upper extremity motions.

Working on this premise, we could consider more about building robustness around the shoulder blade instead of 'stability' with robustness "[describing] a systems tolerance for uncertainty, allowing for degrees of movement variability.'

I want to build robustness.

This week I stopped by Metier to film a few videos with Chris Johnson and we thought many people would find it valuable to have a series of 3 easy to use drills that can be done throughout the day to work on scapular robustness and endurance of the muscles of the shoulder girdle.

If you are interested in getting one of the mini bands we use in the video, you can find that HERE.

Thanks for reading!

-Ryan