Not too long ago, I’d asked readers to let me know what they might like to see more of on the FitFeat blog.  One of the suggestions was for more exercise instruction with photos.  (Thank you Cindy!) 

Before I spend any time on some ‘big’ movements, I thought first I’d give some credit to very important but often neglected muscles.  This is a group of muscles that is rarely shown any attention – until it’s too late, and by then you’ll be a hurting puppy.  They’ll definitely let their presence be known, and quite loudly!  Hello, rotator cuff!

Your rotator cuff consists of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.  To speak in English, they are tiny muscles that help to stabilize (and assist in articulation of) the shoulder joint. 

Think about how much recruitment the shoulder gets during most of your upper body movements.  When you perform a bench press (or any pushing movement) the rotator cuff muscles are involved.  When you do rowing exercise, they are again involved.  When you lift your arm out to the side away from your body… what’s that?  Oh yeah, it’s the rotator cuff helping out.  

If you’ve ever known anyone who has had to have surgery to repair damage to rotator cuff musculature, then you already know it is a long and painful road to recovery. 

Often times just simple repetitive stress and overuse as we age are cause for injury to these tiny but necessary muscles.  Athletes are at increased risk, especially those that have a lot of momentum in their arm movements like baseball/softball pitchers and swimmers.  Even repetitive use on the job can cause damage.  My uncle recently had surgery for this ailment.  His job?  Commercial painting in the trades.  My little brother is also a commercial painter now.  I wonder if he too will be headed down this path at some point.  A close friend of ours has had this injury and subsequent surgery, likely due to sports-related overuse with throwing a ball.  And another close friend’s husband.  It’s definitely common.

Because these aren’t “show” muscles, they don’t really get a lot of proper exercise attention.  What I mean by “show” muscles is that people have a tendency to weight train those muscles most often where the results can be seen, like abs, biceps, chest.  

Here are a few tips you can start using to get give your rotator cuff muscles a little love:

1.) Be sure to work all angles of the shoulder (anterior, medial, posterior heads of the deltoid) to avoid imbalances.  I like to do an expanded set of crazy 8s (8 reps each of many different shoulder angles) including such exercises as front raises, side raises, bent rear lateral raises, shoulder presses, and upright rows.

2.) Add in some external and internal rotation strengthening exercises to your upper body routine.  (Note that all rotator cuff exercises should be done with VERY light resistance.  I use 3 lb dumbbells and no more.)

Example of internal rotation using a light exercise tube:

Start position

End position

Example of external rotation using a light exercise tube: 

Start position

End position

Upright external rotation with dumbbells:

Start position

End position

3.) Use slow and controlled movements for shoulders, keeping momentum out of the equation. 

4.) Incorporate stretches to keep the shoulder limber

So the next time that you are making movements that utilize the shoulder joint, remind yourself of those small muscles that are working hard to keep your shoulder stabilized.  And ask yourself if you are taking good care of these important little structures!

– Shari B. =)

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