Why The Human Shoulder Is A Design Disaster - Cheddar Explains

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common orthopedic injuries – and they're also one of the most commonly ignored. But chimpanzees, with whom we share nearly 99% of our DNA, don’t encounter the same issues we do. So why are human shoulders such a design disaster? Well, we can trace the answer back to a very particular moment in our evolution.

Further Reading:

Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes, Dr. Nathan Lents

The Mercury News:

John Hopkins Medicine

Smithsonian Magazine

University of California, San Francisco

Web MD


Connect with Cheddar!

[dylanmorgan]

This video frustrated me for many reasons.

1. They never demonstrated how chimp shoulders are better designed, only that they're different. So i will tell you how, chimp shoulders are designed to support tension pulling up while human shoulders support tention pulling down. They are both properly designed for their tasks.

2. They imply that floating joints in general are fragile but EVERY animals shoulder is a floating joint.

3. They blamed "beauty standards" for bad excercises that ruin shoulders but a strong back and shoulders is a key category judged in bodybuilding shows and will ruin your chances at winning more than weak arms or pecks. Not to mention that most workout programs are performance based which means they promote healthy shoulders

4. Nobody is sitting at their desk in a fully flexed position for 8 hours so how anyone can get injured sitting at a desk is baffling.

5. No specific position is actually bad for a joint. As long as your mobile every position is a good position to be in. Blaming a specific position is like blaming a specific gear in your car.

[bangscutter]

As a gym junkie, I can testify indeed that the should joint is prone to injury, which is why developing good workout forms and not ego-lifting are very important.

[lifevest]

Society: “You are not flawed, you are perfect in every way.”
Cheddar: “Actually…..”

[undercoverduck]

I had intense shoulder pain for YEARS when I was a kid. Tons of tests, fysio therapy and consults later it turned out it wasn't a problem with my shoulder itself, but with my feet of all things. Turns out they were too flat, causing the little shocks of walking & running to be transferred to my shoulders instead of properly absorbed.

[Swoost]

I have hypermobility (double jointed) so i can bend fingers backwards, knees overextend, can go way past my toes without bending knees. Maybe if i was trained as a gymnast thatd be a good thing but all it led to was 12 shoulder dislocations and 3 surgeries, the latest of which required rebuilding my shoulder socket with a dead guys ankle. Fun!

[j.jimenez]

3:55
“Part of the problems in present day humans
Is not so much a bad shoulder design
But a mismatch between what our shoulder is designed to do and how use it on a daily basis”

The human shoulder is not a disaster,
we simply aren't using it to its fullest capacity
We are taking for granted all of its utility, and judging it based on specific tasks it does poorly instead of seeing its usefulness in a wider variety of tasks
The human body is a multi tool, it's not built to do one specific thing perfectly but instead made to do many things adequately
The only exception is our stamina
A well trained human can run for very long periods of time (Something we do better than many animals)

[DrinkingStar]

As a 76 year old former natural bodybuilding champion who worked out for 58 years in a "hard core old school" bodybuilder-powerlifter gym, I have experienced all kinds of skeletal- muscular injuries in myself and seen in others in the gym. We all "took it the edge". The weights we lifted and our workouts were like that of a high wire walker, one slight move the wrong way would have potential disastrous results.
Hinted but not directly stated was repetitious "overuse" injuries which over long periods of time could cause damage such as carpal tunnel in typist. Similarly, due to overuse, I now have "oval and socket" instead of "ball and socket" shoulder joints. I have been told at 6 different times by 4 different doctors to stop lifting. They have given up on that and now tell me to stop before the point of pain. It is the joint pain (bad pain) that limits how much I can now lift. It used to be the burn and the pain of muscle fatigue( both good pain) that limited how much and many reps I could do.

[smsfte]

I’m a side sleeper. Randomly came across a YouTube video recommending putting a pillow under your torso thereby creating a pocket between my head pillow and torso pillow for my shoulder. Has worked wonders, now longer have shoulder pain when I crush plates on the bench.

[crazy_mind-oxif]

The expert "so its not really a bad design, we just dont use them the way they are meant to be used"

The narration "so now that weve proven shoulders have a horrible design"

And who would have guessed, being active is the solution. Crazy

[plasmaburndeath]

With all the challenges we have, I'm not sure how much longer humanity can Shoulder this issue.

[skybluskyblueify]

As a veterinary nurse I had to handle giant dogs that tug forward. I'm sure this nearly dislocated my shoulder many times. Last thing I wanted to happen is the dog escaping and hurting itself or someone else. Now I have "bone spurs" or something like that in my shoulders. My xray showed little bone growths. No doubt in the areas that got pulled on either in tension or in sudden tugs.

[robinhahnsopran]

Hi! You asked if we've ever had shoulder problems, and I have a doozy:

I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder which (among other things) causes my joints to be very unstable. I can partially or fully dislocate my shoulder by rolling over in my sleep, or sitting down in a chair wrong, and then it can be out for days before it wanders back in on its own. Because shoulders are SO unstable, they were the first joints in my body to start dislocating as my hEDS presented itself over time. Repeated dislocations have also caused severe bursitis in both shoulders on several occasions.

Nowadays I just... own a sling that I keep in my closet, for those days when my shoulders spontaneously dislocate and I need to hold the arm still until it slides back in. 😂I usually dislocate one shoulder or the other on average of about once or twice a week.

Where are all my connective tissue disorder people at? :)

[TommyCrosby]

Humans are like that video game sequel that brings much more features than the original but was rushed out too early.

[aucado]

I had a shoulder injury years ago, tearing several muscles, which lead to some chronic pain and weakness, and limited mobility. I tried a lot of things to solve it, with limited success. A couple years ago, I began working out using gymnastics rings, which mimic the swinging and climbing of our ancestors and strengthen all 13 muscles in the joint, not just a couple like most weight training. Now, I have restored full mobility and strength to my shoulder and my posture is fantastic (at age 50!). I highly recommend this kind of exercise (with proper supervision and caution) to anyone with shoulder issues.

[geobla]

Well, the real disaster is how little insight Cheddar has of both engineering and physiology. When you think of the
1000's of unique movements that the shoulder carries out every day and how it has to accommodate this with 100's
of other factors relating to different muscle groups, other joints, body position and many, many more factors then
it's actually a marvel of engineering .

[ROBYNMARKOW]

As someone w/chronic shoulder problems, I know this all too well.. 🙁

[Abe-]

“Weak backs” *shows Arnold’s absolutely shredded and massive back*

[netslum]

It isnt a design disaster. There is all of the complex musculature holding the scapula in place and then holding the humerus in place. If not in dysfunction it works great. Society should prioritize health and fitness and happiness first so that less people get injured or dysfunctional body mechanics

[timo]

"Modern beauty standards have us seeking big chests whereas the back and shoulders are often mostly neglected"

I don't know who wrote this line but he/she definitely isn't going to a gym on a regular basis. Especially for men these two areas are way more important than the chest because they make you appear wider and give you the classic "V-Shape" which is absolutely a beauty standard for men. Women also tend to emphasize these two areas over chest because they look good in something like a back free dress and because the chest muscles are mostly hidden by their breasts.

I generalizing here because sure there may be people who focus their training on their chest but from my personal experience most people either have no focus on a particular muscle group at all or they focus on something else but chest.

[isaiahmountford]

Not a disaster, but a vital adaptation. Without it we would have surely gone extinct.