Rotator Cuff Strengthening is As Easy As X Y Z

Rotator cuff strengthening exercises are the key to shoulder health and strength, whether you are trying to build strength, recover from an injury or just stay fit. In my case it was a shoulder injury that got me looking into ways to strengthen my rotator cuff but whatever got you started you can learn from my story.

Shoulders are the most complicated joint in the body. They have to be simply so that they can give us the wide range of movement that we enjoy. They are capable of moving our arms in almost any direction. This ability comes about because the shoulder is made up of a very shallow ball and socket joint. The ball at the head of the arm 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 shape of the shoulder gives us the wide range of movement it also gives the shoulder its inherent weak point which is that it is very easy to dislocate the shoulder by knocking the ball off the saucer.

Along with ligaments and cartilage the rotator cuff group of muscles are designed  to prevent dislocation by holding the ball on the saucer giving us stability in the joint. When we use our shoulders in a way that puts a strain on them, our cuff muscles pull on the arm to hold it in the socket. They are worked hardest when we make rotational movements, hence the name. When we raise 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 damaged the rotator cuff.

So a weak or damaged rotator cuff equates to a weak shoulder. It has been found that weight lifters who 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 this group of muscles.

Unfortunately it is not 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 sort it our 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 pain and inflammation 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 began a series of exercises aimed at stabilising and strengthening not only the rotator cuff but all the muscles of the 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.