Rotator cuff...

[Bretty101]

Hi all,

 

I was just gonna post a question asking about exercises for rotator cuff muscles, but then had the crazy idea of putting it into a search engine first. I came up with some interesting pages of exercises which you might be interested in.

 

Having seen a physiotherapist a few months ago, she commented that I had done a lot of work on my major muscle groups and neglected the equally important minor groups. She recommended working on my rotator cuff muscles would help to prevent my shoulders dislocating (all the time).

 

Anyway this is the rotator cuff:

 

http://www.jointhealing.com/pages/shoulder/rotatorcuff.html

 

And these are the exercises:

 

http://familydoctor.org/handouts/265.html

 

I'm off down the gym now, would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Bretty

[Jack]

I havn't read those websites yet, but what I will say Bretty is when you're bench pressing, don't let your upper arms sink below a paralell-to-floor angle! This places a lot of stress on your shoulder and rotator cuff.

[ZR440]

Those are the same exercises a guy I work with is performing because of his shoulder problem (popping out all the time). I have a problem with my rotator also that my chiropractor has been trying to correct, but he said I need to work on the neglected muscles towards the back of the shoulder area by doing something similar to rowing a boat. He also suggested that I keep my elbows tucked in when doing push-ups.

[KickChick]

We "shoulder" responsibility, put our "shoulders to the grindstone" and occasionally "carry the weight of the world on our shoulders." Maybe that's why more than 4 million people in the U.S. seek medical care each year for shoulder problems.

 

Here are some more exercises (with pics) much like the second link you provided Bretty ....

 

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/booklet/view_exercise.cfm?Thread_ID=19&topcategory=Shoulder

 

Many martial artists suffer rotator cuff tears due to the nature of the "sport" ... repetitive movement. And true Jack, injuries are also due to improper weight lfting techniques!!

[SaiFightsMS]

Rotator cuff is a nasty word around me. I have had too much trouble with mine. Not from incorrect technique or anything like that.

 

The last time I had a problem both of my rotator cuffs blew while I was using my manual wheelchair. The rage I had in the long struggle afterwards fueled my initial martial arts activity.

[Bretty101]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

The rotator cuff must be the most neglected muscle in your body, yet it's really important for holding your shoulders together. When do you ever do exercises which use this muscle?

 

Is it the rotator cuff muscle you use when you arm wrestle?

 

ZR440: That rowing exercise I've found has really helped my shoulders a lot. The posterior deltoids at the back, again a really neglected muscle which i find pulls my shoulder right back into it's socket!

 

KickChick: Are there any links you don't have?

 

Cheers

 

Bretty

[KickChick]

Yeah I did happen to lose one along the way .... did anyone here happen to find the "missing" link???

 

Although arm wrestling injuries are not common, several have been reported in medical literature. These have included fractures of the humeral shaft, fracture-separation of the medial humeral epicondyle in teenagers (a growth plate I'm assuming), and a rupture of the subscapularis tendon .... all of these due to the intense muscle contraction involving arm wrestling.... but none (not saying it couldn;t happen) involving the rotator cuff as there really isn't a full rom in this area during this "exercise".

 

Some olecranon (this attaches the tricep muscle to the elbow)fractures are also not uncommon secondary to indirect loading of the joint (or hyper extending the arm bending at the elbow "joint".... this can happen when driving the arm downward to win.... one may feel a pop and then immediate elbow pain.

[G95champ]

take some light weights like 1lbs to 5lbs DB. I don't know what you can use. But anyhow hold your arms out and take them in circles. Try and do like sets of 50 forward and backward.

 

Do lateral raises, front raises with DB's as well. Again as much as you can stand. Do like 3 sets of 10 with each.

 

Only other thing I would sugest trying is Rope Tricep Ext. Take a rope and hook it up to a smith machine or a machine with weights and a pulley. Anyhow extend the rope out like you are throwing a football.

 

Good luck....