The Aerial Dancer Shoulder: Possible Reasons for Overdevelopment of the Anterior Deltoids & Upper Trapezius & How to Combat the Imbalance

When an athlete starts an aerial dance journey, one of the major physical changes that people will notice often comes from the shoulders and back. With my journey of personal training, cross-training, and learning movement patterns of the pole, lyra, hammock, and silks, there are some commonalities (as well as differences) in the hypertrophic response among each of these dancers. But overall, all aerial dancers I've come across have significant activation in the anterior deltoids, upper trapezius, and biceps brachii. Upon doing research on suspension training, I've come across some interesting reasons as to why this may be the case, and how, as a teacher, athlete, and trainer, one can balance training to combat the common issues that can happen when these muscles are overactive. I will get into some of it below.

FIRST, WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

A study done by Snarr and Esco looked at suspension training of a standard push-up pattern. One was performed from the ground, a traditional push-up, and one was performed from a suspension trainer; a suspension trainer being a system of ropes or straps with a handle or ring attached to the ends used to perform strength-based exercises using the person's own body and gravity as the resistance.

The study discovered that the suspension trainer led to greater muscle activation in the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps brachii compared to the traditional push-up. This indicates that the movement provides considerably more stimulation to these muscles, potentially triggering a hypertrophic response. Hypertrophy refers to the stimulus for muscle growth.

To an aerial dancer, a suspension trainer will sound extremely familiar; it will just look like fabric, a vertical pole, or a hoop suspended by a strap. All similar but all very different. But one thing is the same—similar to a suspension trainer, strength training is achieved by using the force of gravity and the person's own body. All a form of calisthenics training—but why is suspension training better than traditional calisthenics? The instability.

HOW DOES THE INSTABILITY CORRELATE TO OVERACTIVITY?

Borreani et al.'s study looked at suspension training but with a twist - they examined how the different heights along with the standard push-up from the floor could change which muscles are more activated than others. Sparing the nitty-gritty details, the study found that the movements where the athletes were doing suspension training push-ups 10 cm from the ground indicated greater bicep and upper trapezius muscle involvement.

What this means is the stabilizing muscles of the push-up movement are getting more involved with the suspension trainer because of the added instability in comparison to the standard floor push-up, offering more opportunity for muscle growth in these areas compared to a traditional calisthenics routine.

How often is an aerial dancer using this angle of elevation of approx. 27 degrees doing pressing motions similar to a suspension trainer? - Quite a bit if you think about it. So it shouldn't be a surprise that we see these muscles get developed extremely quickly among the dance community and most likely why we never run into a dancer that has been training for a year saying her upper trapezius is too weak. Probably because it never will be.

Continuing our discussion on instability, three other studies examined core activation in suspension training compared to non-suspension-based exercises as well as different kinds of suspension exercises. I encourage you to read these over yourself if you're curious, but the common thread among them was about the same. More rectus abdominis activation was happening during all suspension core exercises in comparison to floor-based exercises. However, there should be a note that transverse abdominals and oblique muscles did not have a significant increase in activation. So the lateral and posterior abdominals may not be getting as much stimulus as they should be for the requirements of the sport.

So what does that mean? It means the "upper" core is probably going to get significantly more developed in an aerial dancer in comparison to the pelvic floor, transverse abdominals, quadratus lumborum, and obliques. This may be a reason why many dancers plateau at certain movements we commonly see as a sticking point, like a basic inversion, handsprings, and movements involving twisting of the spine and core compression (meat hook, deadlift handspring, etc.). It may also be a reason why pelvic instability is a common issue seen among new dancers as well as an unbalanced core - it is because the movements are favoring some muscles more than others.

Even though the added instability has some benefits in terms of muscle growth in these areas, there are also downsides that we have to consider.

DOWNSIDES TO THE FINDINGS

One of the major downsides an aerial dancer is going to run into in training this format is combating the fatigue of stabilizing muscles of the core and shoulders on a regular basis. It may be wise to limit the number of sessions a dancer is on an apparatus until they have adapted to the stimulus and can recover adequately before adding more sessions or challenges.

This can place unnecessary strain on weaker, less activated muscles pivotal for stabilizing the shoulder, like the rotator cuff, as well as underactivity in the mid-back stabilizers like the mid/low traps, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi, leading to strains, sprains, and tears of these muscles if under a load they weren't prepared for.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It means that we as trainers, dancers, and instructors need to be cognizant of these weaknesses and encourage correct, full-core and back engagement at all phases of the motion—knowing that likely the anterior deltoids, upper trapezius, and triceps are going to get more involved if not fully engaged.

It means that dancers need to spend more time before inverting, making sure that the weaker muscles have been challenged either in their dancing sessions or with cross-training at the gym in order to combat the common injuries that are seen among the community so that they can dance longer and STRONGER!

It means—TAKE YOUR TIME to progress. There is no rush to get upside down as soon as possible—in fact, taking an extra term even when one thinks they are ready at a previous level may be the best decision to help with longevity over time.

It means that instructors should limit the amount of extra upper trapezius, anterior deltoids, and triceps exercises assigned in classes to reduce the risk of overtraining and overstimulation of these muscles. Movements like shoulder press, shrugs, dips, etc.

It means that athletes should be making sure that the weaker surrounding muscles are just as strong as the muscles with the most stimulation to have a balanced program. So making sure that the rotator cuff, rhomboids, rear deltoids, obliques, transverse abdominals, etc., are getting as much love as possible to make dancing easier and better. For the sake of this post, I will not be mentioning anything lower body but ASSUME that the lower body is just as important and critical for a dancer's success.

It means that these overactive muscles may be shortening surrounding muscles, leading to flexibility and mobility issues over time. So making sure the chest is stretched, the lats are stretched, that twisted spine mobility drills are happening, along with making sure the external rotation of the shoulder is being developed and is strong. All of these things in conjunction will keep a dancer going longer and stronger while reducing the risk of injury.

IN CONCLUSION

Maybe the splits are not the biggest priority for a dancer right out of the gate. When designing a program for people who engage in this sport or hobby, consideration of the primary movement patterns with added instability is paramount for that person's success.

Happy dancing!

SOURCES/REFERENCES:

Borreani S, Calatayud J, Colado JC, Tella V, Moya-Nájera D, Martin F, Rogers ME. Shoulder muscle activation during stable and suspended push-ups at different heights in healthy subjects. Phys Ther Sport. 2015 Aug;16(3):248-54. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2014.12.004. Epub 2014 Dec 18. PMID: 25882770.

Byrne JM, Bishop NS, Caines AM, Crane KA, Feaver AM, Pearcey GE. Effect of using a suspension training system on muscle activation during the performance of a front plank exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Nov;28(11):3049-55. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000510. PMID: 24796979.

Cugliari G, Boccia G. Core Muscle Activation in Suspension Training Exercises. J Hum Kinet. 2017 Mar 15;56:61-71. doi: 10.1515/hukin-2017-0023. PMID: 28469744; PMCID: PMC5384053.

Mok NW, Yeung EW, Cho JC, Hui SC, Liu KC, Pang CH. Core muscle activity during suspension exercises. J Sci Med Sport. 2015 Mar;18(2):189-94. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2014.01.002. Epub 2014 Jan 30. PMID: 24556020.

Snarr RL, Esco MR. Electromyographic comparison of traditional and suspension push-ups. J Hum Kinet. 2013 Dec 31;39:75-83. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2013-0070. PMID: 24511343; PMCID: PMC3916913.