What Are the Benefits of Rotator Cuff Exercises?

Since your upper arm bone sits loosely in the shoulder cavity, your shoulder is the most flexible joint in your body. This flexibility gives your shoulder a wide range of motion, but it also increases its vulnerability. Four little stabilizing muscles that form a cuff at your shoulder help keep the joint secure. Knowing how to care for the rotator cuff muscles helps prevent injury, pain and frustration.

  1. Identification

    • The rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles that support the unstable shoulder joint. They are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis. These muscles are easily remembered by the acronym, SITS.

    Function of the SITS muscles

    • Each of the rotator cuff muscles has its own job. Supraspinatus sits beneath the scapular spine and is responsible for moving the arm out to the side. Infraspinatus and teres minor are situated at the back of the scapula and externally rotate the arm, as in a backhand tennis movement. Subscapularis is located on the front of the scapula and its job is internal rotation, or swinging the tennis racket forward.

    Types of Rotator Cuff Exercises

    • Use wisdom as you exercise your rotator cuff. Rotator cuff exercises should be performed smoothly, with light weights and with control. You have to remember that you are exercising one of the most vulnerable points of your body. The following list of exercises are the most effective for the rotator cuff muscles, but they should not be performed without a thorough understanding of form. Some of the links at the end of this article provide visuals that will prove helpful. It is also a good idea to hire a personal trainer to safely guide you through your exercises. Rotator cuff exercises include side-lying lateral raises, standing rows with free weights and tubing, prone horizontal abuduction, wall push-ups and internal and external rotation. Be sure to warm up for at least five minutes before exercising.

    Benefits

    • Strengthening the rotator cuff muscles is as important for those who play sports as it is for daily living. For sports people, a strong rotator cuff can improve a baseball pitch, tennis serve or a volleyball spike. In daily living, the rotator cuff can help a grandfather safely lift his grandchildren or stabilize a parent who must handle heavy bags of groceries while juggling a two-year old on a hip at the same time.

    Caution

    • Your body is a chain, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. When one muscle group is not doing its job, it forces other muscles to take up the slack and compensate in ways that were never intended. To avoid this potentially dangerous imbalance problem, always be sure to exercise each major muscle group, even if strengthening your rotator cuff is the focus of your session.

    Misconception

    • Because rotator cuff problems are often associated with sports injuries, there is a misconception that cuff problems do not happen to the average person. Cuff injuries can happen to anyone. Lifting a heavy weight, falling or moving unexpectedly in the wrong direction can all contribute to rotator cuff injuries.

    Conclusion

    • Your rotator cuff stabilizer muscles are a small but vital muscle group. The rotator cuff not only stabilizes your shoulder during a full range of motion, it helps you to exercise other parts of your body, too. Can you imagine trying to strengthen your core without the stability of your shoulder? For a complete total body workout, be sure to incorporate rotator cuff exercises into your routine.