I contributed expert commentary to a Women’s Health feature exploring what happens when you perform 50 shoulder taps every day for a month. The article followed writer Kate Cheng as she completed 50 shoulder taps every day for 31 days to see whether the exercise could improve her core strength and shoulder stability.
In the article, I explained that shoulder taps can essentially be thought of as a moving plank.
Starting from a strong push-up position, you alternate lifting one hand to tap the opposite shoulder while trying to prevent the hips from rotating from side to side.
That lack of movement is really where much of the challenge comes from.
Shoulder taps aren’t simply an arm or shoulder exercise.
Your core has to resist rotation every time you remove one hand from the floor, while the shoulders, chest, glutes and other stabilising muscles contribute to maintaining your position.
Over time, improving that control can help develop greater stability and core endurance.
One of the points I also discussed in the article was whether shoulder taps are better than push-ups.
The answer is that they’re really trying to achieve different things.
Push-ups are an excellent exercise for developing upper-body strength, while shoulder taps place more emphasis on stability, balance and resisting rotation through the trunk.
Rather than choosing one over the other, both movements can have a place within a well-designed strength programme depending on what you’re trying to achieve.
You can read the original Women’s Health feature and my contribution HERE.
WHERE THIS FEATURE ALSO APPEARED
The original Women’s Health feature was subsequently republished by AOL and Yahoo Life. These are republications of the same original contribution rather than separate interviews.
Joseph Webb
Expert coaching. Entirely personal.
Chartered Personal Trainer | FRSPH | FCIMSPA
