In the RKC we use the term “Packing the shoulder” quite a bit, but what does it mean?
From the RKC manual: “Packing the shoulder” refers to scapular retraction (back) and depression (down). The ability to “suck the shoulder into its socket” is very important for health and performance.
We do this by engaging the lats and other muscles surrounding the shoulder joint. “Packing the shoulder” is just an easier way to remember it and explain it to our students who may not have a background in anatomy. A simple explanation is usually the most effective.
Now, if you look at top-level presses, either overhead or bench, they naturally pack their shoulders under a heavy load (or they were coached to do so). The unskilled person will tend to shrug the shoulder up and winds up going nowhere when the load gets heavy. Most of us had to learn this skill.
Mark Toomey, SrRKC did some experimenting with a fluoroscopy, which according to Wikipedia is “ an imaging technique commonly used by physicians to obtain real-time moving images of the internal structures of a patient through the use of a fluoroscope”.
I have included a couple of videos for comparison below, and you can see in real time that the clavicle, humerus and scapular move in different ways. With the packed shoulder, the bones glide right thru the range of motion. Without it, they visibly jam into each other.
From Mark:
“This was shot using a piece of PVC pipe filled with expanding foam insulation sprayed inside. I took a barbell to the OR with two wheels, but the metal bar created interference with the flouro machine. Went to Home Depot, got the pipe and the foam, then taped the two 45lb plates to the bar. I wanted to really load the shoulders, but the total weight was only about 95 pounds using the pipe instead of the bar.
I was standing with the bar/pipe held at the base of my skull, behind the neck, shoulders down and scaps retracted as hard as I could. Hips were neutral.
We show this when docs say, “You should never press behind the neck.”
I agree, you never should UNTIL you’ve been taught to press properly.
Here is an overhead press with OUT scapular retraction
Here is an overhead press, but with the packed shoulder:
18 Comments
January 4th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Fantastic. Saved to favourites.Liked and shared.
January 4th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Very cool! Thanks Dave
January 4th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Great info..thanks Mark and Dave!
January 4th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Just to put those images in perspective, they were done to show how a patient with acromioclavicular osteoarthopathy could engage in an overhead pressing pattern that still allowed a significant gap to remain in the AC joint. Dave pointed this out, but in our presentations, we make it very clear that a well informed strength coach must be employed so that a proper pressing pattern may be taught to the patient to avoid what we comoonly see; cervical or lumbar spine flexion, anterior delt shift, or other compesatory movements that could lead tofurther complications.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Wow!!! Thanks for posting Iron Tamer. Amazing demonstration. You (I) gotta do it right every time.
January 6th, 2012 at 12:10 am
Hey Dave. Mark
Thanks for sharing such an invaluable piece of info. There was some info out there that says not to pack the shoulder that I thought this should put it to rest.
January 6th, 2012 at 5:43 am
Im just a little confused about packed shoulders down and lats engaged as well as traps so to speak?
January 13th, 2012 at 6:02 am
[...] Packing the Shoulder – Iron Tamer, David Whitley [...]
January 14th, 2012 at 12:04 am
[...] Packing the Shoulder [...]
January 14th, 2012 at 11:45 am
This is awesome. Thanks for providing these videos… such great teaching tools for patients too! Thank you.
January 17th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
[...] demonstration of the mechanics of the shoulder joint was posted by David Whitley. Watch the videos and then consider the effects of repeatedly performing that overhead lift [...]
January 19th, 2012 at 7:26 am
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
January 19th, 2012 at 10:40 am
Super interesting. Thank You for posting. It’s my understanding that arguments against shoulder packing relate to inhibiting scapular upward rotation (not to be confused with elevation). Over facilitation of the lat via packing can impair the ability of the scap to rotate up. Since 60 degrees of arm over head motion should come from scap upward rotation, limiting it can have problems. In the second video I do not see as much of an arch from the humerus, I wonder if this is the direct result of a lack of upward rotation.
January 19th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I’m not very familiar with fluoroscopy, but it appears as if he has a wider grip on the bar as the humerus doesn’t appear to be going all the way vertical before he reverses the movement. Am i not seeing this correctly? Would be curious to see a 1-arm press with the arm vertical if that’s the case.
January 21st, 2012 at 12:39 pm
[...] original posting @ http://irontamerblog.com/packing-the-shoulder/ [...]
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:09 pm
thank you that’s a good watch. but as charlie is saying, the second clip with a packed shoulder shows less rom. the finish position would be the one i’d like to see where on the first clip the shoulder seems to bottleneck. could you talk about why the movements don’t mirror each other?
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:15 pm
I think the difference in ROM is because in one clip the bar is in front of the neck & the other it is behind, so in the behind the neck press, he set his grip a little wider.
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:51 pm
If the bar is held behind the neck in one recording and in front in the other recording then these videos prove nothing as there are 2 variables. Retraction & downward rotation of scapula with humerus abducting would cause subacromial impingement as upward rotation raises the acromion for this very purpose (to prevent impingement).