Right shoulder lower than the left

[Doug Emerson]

I was just talking with some co-workers, and one of the girls mentioned that my right shoulder is lower than the left shoulder. I did a google search, and it looks like this is fairly common.

Going to a chiro is a choice I could make, but more than likely and expensive one. I'm wondering if there are certain exercises I should do to try to correct my situation. I was thinking maybe dumbell shrugs, some kind of work to hit the rhomboids, maybe some single arm dumbell presses???

Anyone else experience this? Any help is appreciated.

[Steven Low]

Generally, the more dominant arm sits lower.

This is because we use our dominant arms to do more, and thus the muscles on the front of the shoulder/chest tend to be more developed. Posturally, this protracts and/or abducts the scap a bit more than the opposite side which makes it sit lower compared to the other side. In some cases it could be due to some other factors but that's the gist of it.

If you want to try to even things out make sure your non-dominant arm is as strong, and focus on shoring up any horizontal pulling strength deficit as compared to any type of pushing (bench, press, dips, etc.).

[Doug Emerson]

Thanks for the reply Steven. I will definitely start trying to use my left arm more as I am right handed. I have also started doing more dumbbell stuff ala Dan John to make sure that I am working each side equally.

Cheers

[Steven Low]

let us know how it goes

[Patrick Yeung]

Another note, if you swim.....

If you only breathe on one side, it will cause a big difference in shoulder look as well. When I went from every 2 pulls to 3, it evened it right out. But I am not sure about your background.

[Andrew Simonis]

Hi Doug,

The dominant shoulder being lower is something that is very common, especially in one-side overhead athletes such as a baseball player and in swimmers as I believe someone stated earlier. This is something that I suffered with as I played baseball at a competitive level from the age of 5 until a few years after college. I have added some extra external rotation exercises (Shoulder) a few times a week as a rehab/prehab type of thing as well as adding a few sets of dips where I focus on completing a reverse shrugging motion at the top of the dip while "puffing" my chest out. Also, I will do just the shrug and back up motion, as I would at the top of the dip, by it self. This has helped considerably with this issue, as well as the overall health and stability of my shoulders.

Drew