Medically reviewed by Dr Bryan Wang ✅

Correct form and knowing your limits are essential in living a healthy lifestyle safely

Living an active life brings about many benefits. Whether you are a competitive athlete, weekend warrior or just trying to keep a healthy lifestyle by hitting the gym regularly, working out does come with its own set of risks.

According to Gleneagles Hospital Singapore, strains and sprains comprise 41.1% of sports injuries in Singapore, while a further 20% are fractures.

Injuries are unfortunately part and parcel of being an athlete or living an active life. Our shoulder mobility is essential not just in your sporting pursuits but even with the simplest daily activities. It is also often one of the most vulnerable parts of the body that can suffer from muscular and joint ailments.

With over 18 years of experience, Orthopaedic Specialist Dr Bryan Wang of Beacon Orthopaedics believes there are a couple of reasons why we may experience shoulder pain while working out in the gym, and there could be simple solutions to mitigating them.

So what are the leading causes of nagging shoulder joint injuries? The two main root sources overlap: Poor technique and overtraining.

How does my form affect my shoulder?

Push-ups are one of the most common forms of exercise used in a variety of fitness disciplines. Different variations of push-ups can either enhance your core, strengthen your back, or triceps and chest muscles.

As popular a workout as push-ups is, it is important to get it right in order to prevent unnecessary injuries that can come with it.

“You can certainly develop a lot of shoulder pain from impingement of the shoulder and cause problems like rotator cuff tendonitis, which is an inflammation of the tendons of your rotator cuff, the crucial group of muscles and tendons that holds the shoulder joint in place and allows movement of the arm and shoulder.” shared Dr Bryan.

He added: “Learning and maintaining proper technique not only prevents shoulder and elbow pain, but is also recommended as a way of relieving discomfort.” 

When it comes to push-ups, the formula to a painless and faultless push-up is as simple as three steps:

1. Keep your arms slightly wider than shoulder breath.

2. Keep your legs close together.

3. Go into a plank position to ensure a stable core.

The shoulder is not the only vulnerable joint when it comes to doing push-ups. As a leading orthopaedic surgeon with extensive experience, Dr Bryan’s expertise in elbow and shoulder injuries has led him to noticing many quirks – which may seem small – but could lead to injuries. 

“I find that sometimes when you do push-ups, maybe your elbows are a little bit out of your shoulders and tend to be a bit internally rotated. Your legs have to be as close as possible to maintain good abdominal tension,” said the orthopaedic expert.

“Some people tend to have their hands a bit elbowfar back as well. I know that some people do it on purpose at a more advanced level to activate the triceps muscles a little bit more but this can place an excessive strain on the elbow and cause elbow pain.”

When it comes to good running form, how a runner swing’s their arms is often neglected. With the right form and arm swing, this improves your cadence, running economy and posture. Strong back and shoulders will protect your running form as you fatigue especially in later stages of your runs, be it a 5k or an ultramarathon, Quite often,  when runners train for major events such as Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon and overseas marathon, the toll it the higher running volume will expose them to higher risks injury due to a poor running form. Stronger overall joint and mobility health including your shoulders will reduce this risk. 

Don't be concerned if you don't notice immediate improvements when correcting your form. Achieving the right technique takes time, discipline, and professional guidance. Should pain persist even after correcting your form however, signs may lead to overstraining the body.

Listen to the body

Despite push-ups and running being simple everyday forms of exercise, like a dark cloud there are always risks of injury from overtraining. The same goes with simple and common gym workouts such as bench presses and lifting.

Not too long ago, the Canadian-trained surgeon encountered a patient who developed acute chest pain due to excessive exercise.

“A patient of mine noted that he had a lot of bruising and deformity in the chest area. On further examination by us, he had a pectoralis major rupture which is actually a fairly rare injury. It occurs commonly among males in their twenties to thirties, many of whom like to do ‘eccentric loading of the pectoralis major’,” Dr Bryan shared.

“This group of patients can develop a weakness in the shoulder muscles and chest movements if this is left unaddressed. Fortunately, this patient decided to see a specialist. Through our scans, we found that he had a complete rupture of the pectoralis major tendon so we did surgical reconstruction for him.”

Acute chest pain caused by a rupture of the pectoralis major rupture is a terrifying prospect – but there are plenty of preventive measures that can be taken before attaining an injury of such a grade. 

The most crucial measure lies not in proper equipment or your protein shake brands. Though these do contribute to the quality of workouts, getting adequate rest is an athlete’s best bet at putting a nip in the bud of an injury.

“For pain from overtraining, what we always recommend are very simple conservative measures. I tell my patients that it's really important to listen to your body. Take a few days of rest or reduce the training volume or intensity.”

This article is written in collaboration with SportPlus Media.