The Shoulder & Thorax in Sports and Performance

Course Description

Do you work with individuals experiencing chronic tightness or pain in the shoulder, thorax, and/or neck regions? Have you struggled to figure out the best method for incorporating manual therapy and corrective exercise into your current treatment protocols?

This interactive 2-day workshop will focus on helping you assess, utilize manual therapy techniques, and integrate corrective exercises into the current rehabilitation programs that you’re already using with success so that you are able to dramatically improve your clinical results with even your most challenging patients.

After this course, you will understand how the principles of the Integrative Movement System™ – alignment, breathing, and control – are instrumental in helping your patients achieve a more optimal and efficient posture and movement strategy so that they can successfully achieve their health and performance goals.

You will leave this workshop with the tools, strategies, and techniques to confidently help your current patients feel better, move better, and perform at their best while attracting more individuals that want, need, and will pay you for your expertise.

Course Objectives:

After completing this workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the functional anatomy, biomechanics and motor control of the neck, shoulder, and thorax.
• Describe how an individual’s non-optimal and inefficient posture and movement habits lead to chronic tightness and pain of the neck, shoulder, and thorax.
• Distinguish between hyperkyphosis and the loss of thoracic kyphosis, define the term ‘winged’ scapula, and discuss why many common stabilization exercises such as push-up plus, as well as I, Y, T’s actually contribute and perpetuate common shoulder and neck issues.
• Assess for the loss of optimal control of the shoulder and thorax and from these assessments determine which muscles require releasing and/or activation.
• Institute the most effective manual therapy techniques and corrective exercises into your current treatment protocols so you are able to confidently address the most complicated cases.
• Understand the impact of cuing and utilize the most appropriate cues (visual, verbal, tactile) so that you are able to help your patients develop optimal performance.
• Decrease chronic tightness and pain while improving performance and progressing your patients towards accomplishing their functional goals.

Day 1

08:45 – Registration

09:00 – Course Begins – Overview and Introduction to the Thorax and the Thoracopelvic Cylinder: Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics, and Motor Control

10:00-11:15 – Assessment of the Thorax and Thoracopelvic Cylinder: Posture and Movement

11:15-11:30 – Break

11:30-13:00 – Manual Therapy Technique and Corrective Exercises for the Thorax and Thoracopelvic Cylinder

13:00-14:00 – Lunch

14:30 -15:00 – Corrective Exercises for the Thorax and Thoracopelvic Cylinder

15:00-15:15 – Break

15:15-17:15 – Functional Exercise Progressions for the Thorax and Thoracopelvic Cylinder

17:15-18:00 – Conclusion and Questions and Answers Session

Day 2

09:00-09:30 – Course Begins: Review from Day 1

09:30 – 10:15 – Introduction to the Shoulder Complex: Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics, and Motor Control

10:15-11:30 – Assessment of the Shoulder Complex: Posture and Movement

11:30-11:45 – Break

11:45-13:15 – Manual Therapy Release and Corrective Exercise for the Shoulder Complex

13:15-14:15 – Lunch

14:15 -15:15 – Corrective Exercises for the Shoulder Complex

15:15-15:30 – Break

15:30-17:30 – Functional Exercise Progressions for the Shoulder Complex

17:30-18:00 – Conclusion and Questions and Answers Session