Take the Slack Out of Your Joints

Ever been tubing behind a boat with your dad or crappy friend, seen a ton of slack in the rope and realized stuff was about to get real? Thats what we do to our shoulders everyday! How many times do we lift a box or a barbell by jerking it off the ground. This is awful for the joint and you loose a ton of force in the process. Wind up the capsule before you pull. That's the meaning behind the cue "break the bar". In anatomical terms you want to externally rotate your humerus and retract your scapula (aka break the bar). This takes all of the slack out of the joint capsule which decrease the amount of violent movement in the joint itself. Before you lift don't go from 0-60 in the pull, get some tension on the bar with external rotation then smoothly pull off the ground. Keep the shoulder in the joint, it's no fun when it's out. I mention in the video how a jerk from the ground, instead if steady increase in tension, can cause the butt to shoot up making the rest of the body play catch up through the rest of the lift. Also, watch the shoulders. You can visibly see the shoulder move and shake with the jerk, but with external rotation and tension it stays congruent in the joint and tight. Break the bar, externally rotate, control the shoulder in the joint, then pull with one smooth motion.