Traps and rhomboids

[Tricky]

....are what my girl (physio) says i need to be stronger. Had a full assesment R.E. my shoulder (see injury forum) and apart from needing a much stronger R/C she says i have somewhat "cross shoulders", i.e. they're pulled forwards and need to be held further back.

This is wierd 'cos my back (and rhomboids in particular) have always been my strongest feature, though she says it could be simply due to short pec minor fibres.

So i need to strengthen rhomboids and traps...
my current plan:

1.
squat
dip
chin

2.
dead
ohp
row

3.
Assistance stuff, rotations, shrugs, calves, abs, forearms (mostly 2 sets)

My row compared to my dip is 75 kg to bw+40 kg which i thought was near enough. I also find if i get more weight on the bar prematurely, form goes.

Any thoughts? I was thinking throwing a couple of sets of shrugs from behind, and a couple of sets of seated cable rows (with a 3sec iso contraction at the scapulae part of the movement ) into the mixer on assistance day.

Ta,
Ben. :)

[PikeKing]

wouldnt your girl be the best person to tell you what to do?

does she mean you have upper crossed syndrome?

is it a portion of the traps you are weak in or the whole thing?

with rows bring your elbows higher to reduce the amount of lat recruitment, they'll also contribute to your postural problem

do snatch grip deads and exagerate the shoulder retraction

has she given you specific stretches for the pec minor?

[GoldenArrow]

Yes, I was going to say it doesn't matter how much you row if you row powerlifter style you will further internally rotate your shoulders. I'd recommend either bentover row or cable but to the chest with elbows high, and maybe some external rotation/rear delt raises.

[Tricky]

wouldnt your girl be the best person to tell you what to do?

does she mean you have upper crossed syndrome?

is it a portion of the traps you are weak in or the whole thing?

with rows bring your elbows higher to reduce the amount of lat recruitment, they'll also contribute to your postural problem

do snatch grip deads and exagerate the shoulder retraction

has she given you specific stretches for the pec minor?
k....
1. yeah, she just kinda told me the areas to work on, and left the movements to me.

2. i dont think so....she just said that due to genetics/posture or whatever, my shoulders sit fairly forwards and could do with bringing back.

3. i suppose the area that covers retraction of the shoulder

4. That sounds good, and makes sense. My lats are somewhat over-strong in relation to other parts.

5. Will do. Snatch grip = wider and pronated yeah?

6. Yeah, but i already do 'em all. Arnt i ace! :banana:

[Tricky]

Yes, I was going to say it doesn't matter how much you row if you row powerlifter style you will further internally rotate your shoulders. I'd recommend either bentover row or cable but to the chest with elbows high, and maybe some external rotation/rear delt raises.
how do i know if i row powerlifter style or just plain old fat idiot barrel style???
What styles this?:
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/images/bbrow.mpg

I already do 3sets of both int. and ext. rotations. but i'll add in some rear delt raises on assistance day as well.

[Tricky]

thanks for all the advice lads

[GoldenArrow]

That's powerlifter style.

And sounds like upper cross syndrome, but you've got the info now to sort it.

Oh yeah, and I wouldn't recommend doing extra internal rotation work either.