Product Review: Optimal Shoulder Performance

I had the chance to take in a seminar with Eric Cressey while in Las Vegas for the NSCA Personal Trainer conference this past year, and was quite impressed with his delivery of information and quality of presentation. It’s not very often that someone can show me something new that can get me excited to try with myself and my clients, but the stretches and exercises he demonstrated for T-spine mobility were fantastic, so I figured this guy was one to look into. I checked out his website and ordered the Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set, and was able to fit in time over the past few weeks to view the product.

I have to say it was incredibly full of information presented quite confidently by Eric and Michael Reinhold, PT, head therapist for the Boston Red Sox. The two have worked with somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion in professional baseball shoulders as well as youth, and you can bet the information is cutting edge. I liked the DVD series use of humor throughout, and the depth of information, from scientific reviews all the way up to basic applications and program designs for specific conditions and goal outcomes. I liked it so much I have started building a follow-up course to my Post-Rehabilitation for Personal Trainers workshop on Advanced Post-Rehabilitation for the Shoulder using some of the foundations discussed here.

If you are a trainer working with clients who have shoulder issues, clients looking to improve upper body strength, or improve your own knowledge of strength and performance for the shoulder, Optimal Shoulder Performance  would be an excellent product to add to your library and put into action.

I figure I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to recommending other trainers and their products, as a lot of the info is simply regurgitated, redundant and very basic. The info presented here is not only full of new angles and information (example: the three different classes of acromions, differences between interior & peripheral impingement), but has a fantastic array of exercise alterations that can be used safely and effectively with different injuries. It’s definitely a keeper!!