I have one personal training client who loves horse riding. Or I had another who loves playing tennis. Both have some body issues by doing what they love. I cannot say you stop doing it because they love it. So what you have to do is to train muscles and at least make your body stronger to prevent the injury.
Muscles that you are using while handstand
Beside the technique of doing handstand, the primary movers of muscles are
- All three Deltoid muscles (since this is a overhead movement)
- Upper trapezius
- Triceps brachii
And of course your antagonist, synergist and stabilizer to complete the handstand.
Handstand is hard
It takes a lot of effort to master handstands. The handstand is not only hard to grasp the concept but also it is hard on your shoulders mechanically. In fact, the position of hands for handstands is very hard on your shoulders.
In general, when you have shoulder pain, overhead movement is out. Then the scapular plane is recommended but as a handstand lover, you know the hand position with the scapular plane is not optimal for handstand.
First let’s learn the mechanics of shoulders.
Glenohumeral joint
Glenohumeral joint is a highly mobile joint and its ability to achieve this degree of movement is contingent upon the stability of the scapulothoracic region. Since this is a very mobile joint, it is susceptible to injury. However, promoting stability within this joint, therefore, requires muscle balance within the force-couples of the joint.
Muscles around shoulders
There are many muscles that cross the glenohumeral joint, those muscles require substantial levels of mobility. This implies that a program promoting scapulothoracic stability may need to include stretches to promote extensibility of both the muscle and joint structures. Therefore, static stretches to improve tissue extensibility should precede dynamic movement patterns and strengthening exercises.
Muscles during movements
During shoulder abduction, the rotator cuff muscles play an important role in initiating movement and facilitating an inferior glide of the humeral head. This glide is critical, as the articular surface of the humeral head is almost twice the size of the glenoid fossa, and therefore cannot operate as a true ball-and-socket joint. The rotator cuff muscles contract in anticipation of deltoid action.
During pushing and pulling movements, key parascapular muscles that are serratus anterior, rhomboids, and lower trapezius.
When the thoracic spine lacks appropriate mobility, what often results is compensation to stability within the scapulothoracic region, which in turn affects mobility within the glenohumeral joint and muscle action within that joint. However, with good thoracic mobility and muscle balance in the scapulothoracic region to effectively stabilize the scapula and control its movement, the more distal mobilizers (deltoid) can generate larger amounts of force. It therefore appears that promoting stability within the scapulothoracic region requires thoracic mobility in addition to other key factors.
T-spine mobility exercise and activate lower trapezius