With
the exception of some isolated leg exercises, the shoulder and the
muscles that move the shoulder through its range of motion, are involved
in almost every resistance training exercise. the shoulder has
tremendous range of motion. Unfortunately, it has traded stability
for mobility. Many athletes will perform a wide variety of
exercises to strengthen the major muscles of the shoulder (latissimus
dorsi, the trapezious, the pectoralis major, and the rhomboids).
However, very few athletes will perform exercises to strengthen the
rotator cuff muscles (subscapularis, teres minor, supraspinatus or
infrastpinatus).
The rotator cuff is very important
because it stabilizes the joint so that the major muscles can attain
maximum function. The strength of the rotator cuff muscles is also
important to help prevent shoulder joint injury in almost all athletic
activities.
All four muscles of the rotator cuff
originate on the scapula (shoulder blade), and insert on the upper
aspect of the humerus (upper arm bone). the infraspinatus attaches
to the scapula form the medial border (closest to the vertebral column)
and below the spine of the scapula. It runs to the front of the
humerus. The teres minor begins on the lateral (or outside border)
of the scapula, and inserts on the humerus just below the
infraspinatus. The supraspinatus originates above the spine of the
scapula, and runs over the top of the shoulder to attach above the
infraspinatus. The subscapularis has its origin on the upper
surface of the scapula (close to the ribs) and inserts on the humerus
near the other rotator cuff muscles. If you think about the
origins and insertions of the cuff muscles it is relatively easy to
understand their function and train them effectively.
The rotator cuff muscles act together
to stabilize the shoulder joint, to assist in external rotation of the
shoulder (rolling and arm outward), and to assist in abduction (lifting
the arm up and away from the body). In other words, the cuff's two
main roles are to stabilize the shoulder throughout the range of motion
and to provide a "fine tune" to the movements of the shoulder
as the large muscles (pecs, lats, delts) move.
For example, during a bench press,
the rotator cuff muscles act to keep the humerus from too much or too
little rotation a the bar is moved towards or away (eccentric and
concentric) from the chest. If the cuff muscles cannot stabilize
and control movement during the concentric or eccentric lowering phase
of the bar, there may be an excessive amount of rotation that will
result in injury to the shoulder. Most of the shoulder injuries
that I have seen in resistance trained athletes have been due to an
excessive amount of rotation that will result in injury to the joint.
Anyone who has ever strained a
rotator cuff muscle knows that an injury to any of these small muscles
can result in a significant loss of function. When a muscle or
tendon is torn it may heal by forming scar tissue within the muscle or
tendon. Repair through scarring provides a very weak healing
structure and makes that area more prone to re-injury. Therefore,
once injured it is very important to start with proper rehabilitation
immediately in order to reduce and prevent scarring. With proper
rehabilitation most athletes are able to return to full function.
In other words, see your sports doc early for best results.
Prevention of injuries is always the
best. Proper training of the rotator cuff muscles is
important. A s the saying goes..."a chain is only as strong
as its weakest link"... If an athlete focuses only on the he large muscles
and ignores the relatively smaller rotator cuff muscles, that athlete
will be an accident looking for a place to happen. Most lifting
injuries to the shoulder happen with the bench press. Use good
from and have a spotter assist you.
While all shoulder exercises will
incorporate the rotator cuff muscles in some form, the benefits of
specific exercises to strengthen these muscles will pay large dividends
in the total strength of the shoulder and prevention of injuries to that
joint during resistance training exercises.
