Shoulder Blade Protocol Card (The Turntable)

The shoulder blade is your arm's launch pad. If it can't move, nothing above it works.

The blade connects the arm to the trunk. When the muscles anchoring it are weak or locked-long, it wings out or slumps forward. The arm loses its stable base and the wrist and elbow start overworking to compensate for an instability they were never designed to manage alone. Most guitarists feel this in their elbow or wrist and treat it there. The fix is further up.

This protocol works through three phases:

Release: free the muscles locking the blade down and forward, particularly the latissimus dorsi and the deep shoulder rotators, before the back muscles have any chance of functioning. 

Reset: reintroduce the upward rotation the blade has been locked out of, and teach it to glide rather than brace. 

Rebuild: reactivate the lower trapezius and serratus anterior, the muscles that keep the blade flat against the ribcage under the sustained demands of playing.

9 exercises. Clear anatomical illustrations. Sets, reps, and what you should feel for each one.

Print it, stick it on the wall, or pull it up on your iPad before you play.

What's included

• 1 high-resolution PDF protocol card, designed for iPad or printing
• Step-by-step anatomical illustrations for every exercise
• Sets, reps, and plain-English execution notes
• Built to use in 10 minutes before every practice session

This is for you if

You're 40+, you play guitar, and your picking arm aches or your elbow fatigues during sessions. You feel a pulling or burning sensation across the shoulder blade area. You've been told your posture is poor but stretching the chest hasn't changed much.

"I had no idea my shoulder blade was involved. I thought my elbow was the problem. Four weeks into this card and my elbow discomfort had almost gone and my picking felt noticeably freer." David, 58, Edinburgh 

Designed by Fergus O'Connor, Manual Osteopath, Strength Coach, and Guitarist, with 18 years working with guitarists in pain. Part of the Release-Reset-Rebuild™ framework built for adult guitarists.

Format: Instant PDF download. 3 pages + RRR Framework overview.

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