What is the Rotator Cuff?

The rotator cuff (often times referred to as the rotor cuff or rotary cup) is a group of small, untrained, relatively unknown, and underused, yet very important muscles in our shoulders. Their purpose is to keep the shoulder stable in order to function properly.  Weakness in these muscles can cause instability, impingement and rotator cuff tears.   Since the shoulder is the most moveable joint in the body, it is extremely important to keep a good balance through your shoulder musculature and train the rotator cuff muscles.
Exercises to strengthening your rotator cuff include:

• Side-lying External Rotation – Lie on your side with your top arm resting on your stomach holding a light dumbbell with a small rolled-up towel under the arm.  Keeping your elbow bent at 90 degrees, rotate your arm upwards and stop when forearm is in a position just above horizontal.

• Prone Horizontal Abduction– Lie on your stomach with your arm hanging over side of table and the thumb facing forward.  Hold a light dumbell and slowly raise arm straight out to the side (in a “T” pattern) and stop when arm is parallel to the body.

• Prone Elevation in Scapular Plane – Begin in the same position as in the exercise above, except rotate your hand so the thumb is rotated 45° out to the side.  Hold a light dumbbell and slowly raise arm in a plane 45° forward  (in a Y’s pattern) and stop arm just below parallel to the body.

• Prone Row with External Rotation – Begin in the same position as above, except rotate your hand so the thumb is facing towards the body. Perform a rowing motion with the elbow in the same plane as the shoulder, and stop when the elbow is even with the shoulder. After achieving this position, rotate the arm upwards until the forearm is just below parallel with the body. Next, rotate the forearm back down to the previous position, and then lower the arm back down to the starting position.

• External Rotation with Tubing – Stand while holding the tubing across your abdomen, with a rolled towel between your arm and body. While keeping your elbow bent at 90 degrees, slowly rotate arm out to side until hand is pointing straight forward, and hold for 2-3 seconds.  Slowly return to start position.

• Horizontal Abduction with Tubing – Attach the tube to something sturdy at shoulder height.  Stand facing toward the attachment-side of the tubing, with the arm extended straight out in front of you. Slowly pull arm backwards and out to the side, keeping the arm at shoulder height. As you perform this motion, try to pinch the shoulder blade backwards/inwards.

• Rows with Tubing – Hold the ends of tubing in each hand. Perform rowing motion backwards. When elbows are approximately ½ of the way to the body, complete the motion by pinching the shoulder blades together.

• Standing Elevation in the Scapular Plane – Stand with dumbbells in your hands, with hands rotated 45° out to the side.  Slowly raise arms at 45° angle to shoulder height and slowly return to the side of your body.

It must be stressed that rotator cuff exercises should be performed with lighter weight (about 2-3 pounds).   Using heavy weights will engage larger muscle groups (deltoids, lats) which can result in muscular imbalance.
For further information regarding rotator cuff strengthening, contact me for a free assessment.