I just finished reading the fourth edition of “Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention”. This is a book by John M. Kirsch, a medical doctor who performed “The Kauai Study” to test his theories about shoulder pain relief, prevention and rehabilitation.
The books teaches a new exercise program that remodels the shoulders to prevent pinching and tearing of the rotator cuff, helping to relieve stiffness and pain and allowing to restore normal shoulder flexibility. These exercises are meant to heal and maintain the health of the shoulders for good. According to the author, it is a fact that hanging from a bar and light weight lifting relieves most shoulder pain problems. The reason for this is that the anatomy of the shoulders is subject to the force of gravity throughout our entire lift. When we hang from a bar we reverse the way gravity affects the shoulder join, reversing the effects of gravity’s destructive force.
Tha Kauai Study And It’s Positive Results
The Kauai Study was performed with 92 subject with diverse shoulder pains and injuries, of these 92 people, 90 showed positive results, allowing them to return comfortably to their activities of daily living. This book contains a summary of the study’s results. The lecture is a quick read, containing less than 100 pages of information on rotator cuff tears, subacromial impingement syndrome, adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder, osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral join and other types of shoulder problems.
The book contains dozens of images showing different positions for the shoulders. These images includes CT scans of the shoulders of live subjects, some in hanging positions and others in various degrees of arm elevation. The reading is also packed with testimonials of people who suffered from shoulder pain and tried multiple approaches without success, until they tried Dr. Krisch’s approach. Many of these subjects where due for immediate surgery and where able to avoid it with these simple exercises.
Shoulder Pain Solutions and Prevention
The author’s proven hypothesis for rehabilitation and prevention is based on a very simple system that involves hanging from bars and doing low-weight, high-repetition weigh lifting for the shoulders. The author recommends hanging from bars as long as possible, starting easy, perhaps with the feet still in the floor and slowly adding weight and time to the holds. The same idea goes to the weight lifting, start with 5 pound dumbbells and go for 30 repetitions, in due time, the subjects can add more weight,. The recommendations are up to 8 or 10 pounds maximum, there is no need for more repetitions or weight.
Conclusion
After reading the book and experiencing some of these exercises with Jon Kolaska and Chirs Eddington, I have decided to practice this approach to improve the health of my shoulders. I am fortunate of not having any major shoulder pain or injuries, and I am sure I don’t wish to have any ever. This is why I will be using this program to prevent deterioration of my shoulders.
On top of that, hanging from bars is useful and fun. I am impressed with how my skill has improved in only a week and I look forward to seeing how much better I can get.
