Strong shoulders start at your shoulder blades: Why scapular strength is essential for pain

Video Ad Feedback Take a quick break to squeeze in these easy exercises 9:21 • Source: CNN

Take a quick break to squeeze in these easy exercises 9:21

When your shoulders ache or feel stiff, your first instinct might be to stretch or massage them. But the real culprit behind most shoulder problems isn’t surface-level tension — it’s more often a lack of shoulder blade stability.

Office workers , professional athletes and older adults face scapular stability challenges for different reasons — prolonged sitting, repetitive overhead movements or age-related muscle weakness , respectively — but the solution involves the same fundamental approach: strengthening the muscles that stabilize and move your shoulder blades.

This article is the fourth in a five-part series on the power o