The Dumbbell Row

The Dumbbell Row has got to be one of the few good exercises bodybuilding has given us. At my gym it still carries a certain amount of stigma; however, as a tool for developing balanced strength across the shoulder girdle, it is invaluable. Most people are much stronger at 'pushing' or 'pressing' than they are at 'pulling'. Coupled with poor posture throughout the day, this leads to tight, strong pectorals and other large internal rotators of the shoulder, coupled with long, weak scapular retractors such as the middle and low fibres of trapezius.

Correctly performed Rows involve retraction and some depression of the scapula, followed immediately by humeral extension to bring the dumbbell (or kettlebell, 3 litre bottle of milk, etc) toward the lower chest and abdomen. It's important to emphasise the shoulder blade should be pulled back and down; if you are shrugging the scapula up and hyperextending the humerus, you won't recruit the lower fibres of trapezius. The elbow will not travel far behind the torso if done right. In fact, the degree the arm moves doesn't actually matter. It just allows people to get a bit of momentum going, allowing training of scapular retraction with heavier weights.

Do this exercise right and load it up. Sets of 10-20 with 40kg or more will build excellent strength in the lower traps and correct imbalances across the shoulder girdle. If it's good enough for the ridiculously successful Chinese weightlifting team, it's good enough for you.

Exercises for Scapula Movement

Here's a few more exercises that you can add to your warm-up, after training or even load them up and use them in your workout. They all have in common the aim of developing your ability to control the movement of the scapulae in isolation, in the process strengthening the muscles responsible and hopefully as a by-product preventing shoulder pain and injury. As with the other exercises I described in the last post, it helps to try and 'feel' these as much as possible. What I mean by this is concentrating on which muscles are working, how your scapulae move and how you can alter the movement by moving the scapulae into different places.

Scap Dips

Scap Pullups

Scap Protraction

Scap Retraction 

Band Protractions 

See how with each of these exercises, scapula movement occurs with minimal movement at other joints. The exception is the band protraction. I included this one because it combines protraction of the scapulae, strengthening serratus anterior, with a nice stretch of pectoralis major and other humeral flexors when the arms are behind the body. Efforts should to emphasise scapular protraction over humeral transverse flexion in this exercise to minimise the contribution of pec major; the stretch should assist this.

Cooking with Jamie

In a slight diversion from normal posts, I felt I had to post this recipe online as it is just so damn good. This Low-Carb Lasagna is the creation of my fiancee Fay.

For the Bolognaise:
500g Mince
1 can Tomatoes
Glass Red Wine
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
Pint Beef Stock
Fresh Basil, torn into bits
1 Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
Seasoning

Fry off the onion and garlic, then brown the mince. Add the tomatoes, stock, wine, puree, basil and seasoning and cook on a low hob or oven at about 150 degrees celsius for about 3 hours.

The Lasagna
1 pot Ricotta Cheese
1 Courgette, peeled and the cut into strips using a peeler
2 Carrots, same as courgettes
3 Eggs, boiled
Parmesan
The Bolognaise sauce

Put half the bolognaise in a deep baking dish. Make a layer of 'pasta' with the courgettes and carrots. Aubergine works well for this also. Layer half the ricotta on top of this, then chop or break up the eggs and spread them over this. Layer the rest of the bolognaise on top, then top with the rest of the ricotta. Cover liberally with parmesan. Bung in the oven at 200 degrees or so and bake for 20 mins, or until golden on top. Devour.