Post by Tim Wescott on May 24, 2006 14:56:23 GMT -5
Rotator Cuff Strengthening Exercises
C. W. Schurman, MS, CSCS 1/19/04
Do you feel as though your shoulders "give out" during your upper body workouts? Do you wonder if perhaps including some rotator cuff strengthening exercises might help? Below we discuss how to perform three rotator cuff exercises and two shoulder stretches that may help you see improvement in performance in the rest of your upper body workouts.
WHAT IS THE ROTATOR CUFF?
The rotator cuff is a group of four relatively small muscles (the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis, or “SITS” for an easy way to remember them all) that help keep the ball-and-socket joint intact. Rotator cuff muscles get strained from 1) sudden impact (a fall or high-velocity movement such as throwing when a person is not used to that particular activity), 2) overuse, particularly in sports such as swimming, baseball or tennis, 3) training with too much weight in the primary movements such as bench pressing or overhead pressing without proper recovery time, and 4) doing too much of certain types of movements without balancing them out with opposing movements (i.e. not enough pulling and too much pushing.)
Because the rotator cuff muscles are so small, when strengthening them, it is important not to train with too heavy a weight. Initially a 3 or 5-pound dumbbell may suffice for most women, and an 8 to 12 pound dumbbell for men. When performing rotator cuff exercises, keep the movement slow and controlled, and be sure to train in the pain-free range of motion. Keep your wrists neutral rather than flicking the wrist to add range. You can also use therabands or exercise tubing, although remember that in doing so, the end range of motion will be overloaded far more than the start, and in this case handheld weights (be it soupcans, 2-liter bottles or dumbbells) or cables are preferable to bands.
When in doubt before beginning any of these exercises, see a sports medicine doctor, or get a referral to a specialist like a physical therapist who can help assess whether what you need truly IS rotator cuff strengthening, or if there is another entirely different muscle group to target instead.
EXTERNAL ROTATOR EXERCISES:
1. External Rotator on Knee:
To perform this exercise sit on a bench with foot propped on seat so that when you rest your elbow on the knee, the upper arm remains parallel to the floor. Start with your hand in the air, perpendicular to the floor, and slowly rotate your upper arm in an arc toward the midline of your body (keeping a right angle to the elbow) until your forearm is just above parallel to the floor. Exhale and arc the arm back up to vertical, repeat for 12-15 repetitions and then perform on the other arm, 1-3 sets each. If you anticipate that one arm is weaker than the other, complete the exercise with your weak arm first and only do the same number of reps on the strong arm as you can complete with good form on the first.
C. W. Schurman, MS, CSCS 1/19/04
Do you feel as though your shoulders "give out" during your upper body workouts? Do you wonder if perhaps including some rotator cuff strengthening exercises might help? Below we discuss how to perform three rotator cuff exercises and two shoulder stretches that may help you see improvement in performance in the rest of your upper body workouts.
WHAT IS THE ROTATOR CUFF?
The rotator cuff is a group of four relatively small muscles (the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis, or “SITS” for an easy way to remember them all) that help keep the ball-and-socket joint intact. Rotator cuff muscles get strained from 1) sudden impact (a fall or high-velocity movement such as throwing when a person is not used to that particular activity), 2) overuse, particularly in sports such as swimming, baseball or tennis, 3) training with too much weight in the primary movements such as bench pressing or overhead pressing without proper recovery time, and 4) doing too much of certain types of movements without balancing them out with opposing movements (i.e. not enough pulling and too much pushing.)
Because the rotator cuff muscles are so small, when strengthening them, it is important not to train with too heavy a weight. Initially a 3 or 5-pound dumbbell may suffice for most women, and an 8 to 12 pound dumbbell for men. When performing rotator cuff exercises, keep the movement slow and controlled, and be sure to train in the pain-free range of motion. Keep your wrists neutral rather than flicking the wrist to add range. You can also use therabands or exercise tubing, although remember that in doing so, the end range of motion will be overloaded far more than the start, and in this case handheld weights (be it soupcans, 2-liter bottles or dumbbells) or cables are preferable to bands.
When in doubt before beginning any of these exercises, see a sports medicine doctor, or get a referral to a specialist like a physical therapist who can help assess whether what you need truly IS rotator cuff strengthening, or if there is another entirely different muscle group to target instead.
EXTERNAL ROTATOR EXERCISES:
1. External Rotator on Knee:
To perform this exercise sit on a bench with foot propped on seat so that when you rest your elbow on the knee, the upper arm remains parallel to the floor. Start with your hand in the air, perpendicular to the floor, and slowly rotate your upper arm in an arc toward the midline of your body (keeping a right angle to the elbow) until your forearm is just above parallel to the floor. Exhale and arc the arm back up to vertical, repeat for 12-15 repetitions and then perform on the other arm, 1-3 sets each. If you anticipate that one arm is weaker than the other, complete the exercise with your weak arm first and only do the same number of reps on the strong arm as you can complete with good form on the first.
