Do Your Shoulders Hurt When you Jog?

We expect pain and soreness in just about every muscle from the waist down when it comes to jogging, but why would we experience pain in the shoulders?

Many of us have some sort of postural imbalance where the shoulders aren’t lined up well.  For just about everyone, there is muscle tension and stress that we keep in our neck and shoulders.  This means that there might be decreased flexibility, mobility, health and strength leading to early muscle fatigue, pain and cramping.  Treating the stress in the neck and shoulders with massage or acupuncture can free them up so that they perform better when jogging.

Another approach is to look at how we jog.  Many jog in a way that increases shoulder tension.  A quick check is to observe your hands.  Are they loose or clenched into a fist?  They should be loose.  If they are clenched in a fist, then you are likely activating and clenching every muscle from your fingertips, arms and shoulders up to your neck when jogging.  This constant tension leads to premature muscle fatigue and pain.  A simple remedy is to be mindful of keeping your hands, arms and shoulders loose as you jog.  It can be hard to be constantly thinking of your arms while jogging, so try this simple technique: touch your thumb to your middle finger lightly and keep it there the whole time that you are jogging.  In this position it is really difficult to have any real tension in your arms and shoulders.  The shoulders will stay loose and the pain will go away.

While I am not a runner, but chose to get my cardio doing other activity, for you all of you who are runners out there: have fun, stay healthy and loose.