Scapular Movement and Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain can feel like a roadblock, stopping you from doing the things you love—whether that’s playing with your grandkids, gardening, or getting through your workouts pain-free.
Here’s something you might not know: shoulder pain isn’t always about the shoulder joint itself. Often, the problem lies in how your shoulder blade (scapula) moves—or doesn’t move.
Scapular Movement
When your scapula isn’t functioning properly, it can lead to:
-Impingement: Pain and difficulty when lifting your arm.
-Rotator cuff strain: Overworking muscles not meant to handle all the load.
-Neck and upper back tension: Compensation patterns that throw off your posture and comfort.
The root cause? Many people have a forward tilt of the scapula (anterior tilt) that limits shoulder mobility, strains muscles, and increases the risk of pain.
Why Scapular Position Matters
Your scapula acts like a foundation for your shoulder joint. Poor scapular positioning—often caused by a mix of poor posture, muscle imbalances, improper cueing and lack of mobility—disrupts the entire system.
Here’s the science:
When your scapula sits in an anterior tilted position, it decreases space in the shoulder joint, making every movement less efficient.
Everyday activities, like pulling, pushing, or lifting overhead, become harder on your muscles and joints. For proper shoulder flexion (raising of the arm) to occur you need for the scapula to posteriorly tilt and upwardly rotate.
How to Improve Scapular Movement
The good news? You can retrain your scapula to move properly. This starts with intentional exercises designed to improve stability motor control. (Notice I didn't mention strength).
Initially you may need to start with some release and corrective work. We will get into that in another post.
Today I am going to show you 3 scapular-friendly exercises you can add into your training
High-to-Low Pulls
Exercises like pulling a resistance band or cable from overhead are a great place to start. These positions naturally support better scapular mechanics, by engaging the serratus and lower trap muscles. These two muscles help facilitate that scapular posterior tilt and upward rotation you need for shoulder flexion.
Low to High Presses
Once you have done your pulls you can do the same thing for your presses. For these go from low to high. The same mechanics will occur, your serratus an lower trap fire up.
Planks
Lastly, you can do the same thing for your planks just by changing up your hand placement.
Start with lighter weights and advance as you master each set. Gradually move back to your horizontal pulls and presses. Keep in mind that for some people the horizontal position may not be appropriate.
Check Your Posture
Make sure you keep your entire TPC aligned and chest open.
Have questions about how to get started? Drop a comment or connect with me directly—I’d love to help!