Rotator Cuff Strengthening is As Easy As A B C



Posted: Friday, December 04, 2009

by Nick Bryant

Rotator cuff strengthening exercises are the key to shoulder health and strength, whether you are trying to get stronger shoulders, recover from a shoulder injury or avoid injury. In my case it was a damaged shoulder that started me researching to strengthen my rotator cuff but whatever got you started you can learn from my experience.

Shoulders are the most complex joint in the body. They have to be simply because of the wide range of movement that we enjoy with them. They can move our arms in just about any direction. This flexibility comes about because the shoulder is made up of a very shallow ball and socket joint. The ball at the head of the humerus or upper arm bone sits on a shallow socket of bone at the outer edge of the shoulder blade. If you think of this as like a soccer ball sitting on a saucer you get some idea.

Although the structure of the joint gives us the wide range of movement it also gives the shoulder its inherent weakness which is that it is very easy to knock the ball off the saucer and dislocate the shoulder.

Along with cartilage and ligaments the muscles of the rotator cuff are designed to hold the ball on the saucer preventing dislocation and giving us stability in the joint. Whenever we use our shoulders in a way that puts a strain on them, our cuff muscles take over to pull the arm into the socket. They are worked hardest when we make rotational movements, hence the name. If we lift our arm out to the front or side we put an extra load on the rotator cuff. This is why these movements hurt if you have a rotator cuff injury.

So a weak or damaged rotator cuff equates to a weak shoulder. Research has shown that weight lifters who regularly include rotator cuff strengthening exercises in their workouts can lift significantly higher weights than those who don't.

So the secret to healthier shoulders is to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles.

Unfortunately it is never quite that simple if you have a damaged rotator cuff. I had torn my left rotator cuff lifting something awkwardly. I was facing shoulder surgery to correct the problem but through exercise managed to avoid surgery.

The first thing I had to do was rest my shoulder properly avoiding any movement that caused pain. I had to stop driving and rearrange my desk at work to help with this. At the same time I treated the inflammation and pain with anti inflammatory drugs.

Then I started some stretches to help bring back the mobility in my shoulder. Several months of not working properly had caused some stiffness.

Next I started a series of exercises designed to stabilise and strengthen not only the rotator cuff but the whole shoulder. These were low resistance, low weight exercises that gradually built up over a few weeks. Because I had actually torn my rotator cuff it was important to strengthen the other shoulder muscles in order that they could support the cuff while it healed. With over twenty muscles involved in moving your shoulder there are plenty to help out as long as you have got them working properly.

It took me two months to get my shoulder back to one hundred percent pain free movement. It would have been much easier to have started exercising my rotator cuff before I tore it. So take my advice, if it's not too late, and start working on your shoulders.

Having torn my rotator cuff and ending up with a shoulder impingement I started to research shoulders and rotator cuff strengthening to better understand my own injury. You can read more on my blg at http://www.strongershoulders.com
Nick Bryant lives in Shropshire in the UK with his wife and two young children where he is a director in their family recruitment business. His hobbies and interests tend to be family orientated and focussed on the outdoors and sporting activities. He is the proud owner of a vintage VW camper and he and his family spend a great deal of their spare time at the coast camping, body-boarding and surfing in the summer months. He is also a keen golfer. He writes on a number of subjects around personal health and well being and has recently started a blog at http://www.strongershoulders.com.
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