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It’s all about getting strong in the right places.
As a physical therapist, one of the most common problems that I deal with in my clinic is shoulder pain. Your shoulder is the most mobile joint in your body. It’s also one of the most functional. As such, there is a delicate balance that must exist between flexibility and strength. We’re not talking just any strength training, you have to be able to work the right muscles in the right way. If you ever taken part in regular exercise/strength training, chances are your shoulders have hurt at one point or another. Often times this pain develops not necessarily because you’re working out, but because of how you’re doing it. Today I wanted to share three key shoulder exercises that everyone should be doing to keep your shoulders healthy and strong and enable you to keep training for a long, long time.
We all like to train the “look-good/feel-good/sculpted-shoulders” muscles when we’re working out. We do lots of military presses and deltoid raises to get nice tone 
and definition in our shoulder muscles. However, we often neglect to strengthen the most important muscles of the shoulder complex – the rotator cuff. While these muscles aren’t going to necessarily get you noticed the next time you’re in your tank top, they are without-a-doubt the most important muscles to maintain healthy shoulder function.
The rotator cuff muscles keep the head of the humerus stable in the shoulder joint. A weak muscle = a loose muscle just like a strong muscle = a tight muscle. If you neglect to train your rotator cuff muscles you can develop weakness and “looseness” in your shoulder which looseness then leads to instability. Unfortunately with the amount of muscles, tendons, and nerves that travel through this area any “looseness” in the joint is going to likely rub on one structure or impinge on another. This irritation leads to pain and, if left untreated, can eventually lead to rupture, surgery, and rehab where a guy like me has to crank on your arm to get it mobile and then strengthen the daylights out of it so I never have to see you in my clinic again. The alternative (which I hope you’re interested in hearing!) is to keep your rotator cuff nice and strong so that it better controls your humerus in the shoulder joint and we eliminate rubbing and impinging.
Interested? I hoped so! Need some exercises? You bet…
Here are my three favorite exercises for training and strengthening the rotator cuff:
1. Standing External Rotation – adjust a pulley machine of secure a resistance band at about belly-button level. Stand perpendicular to the machine with your elbow bent to 90 degrees and grab the handle. Keeping your elbow in to your side and maintaining that 90 degree bend, pull the handle all the way out to your side as shown (see video). Slowly return to the starting position.
Repeat 12 times
2. Standing Internal Rotation – Pulley/resistance band in the same spot. This time you’re going to start perpendicular to the machine with your injured side closer to the weight stack (turn around 180 degrees from “Internal Rotation” position). Keep your elbow right at your side and bent to a 90 degree angle as you grasp the handle that is out to your side. Maintain this 90 degree position as you pull the handle across your belly button. Slowly return to the starting position.
Repeat 12 times
3. Standing Shoulder Extension with External Rotation – Stand and face the machine/your resistance band and grasp the handle. Starting with your elbow straight and your thumb up towards the ceiling, you will pull the handle down and back behind your hip. To kick on those rotator cuff muscles a little bit more, rotate your thumb away from your body so the finishing position is elbow straight and palm forward with the handle back behind you. Slowly return to the starting position.
Repeat 12 times
These are three of the most effective exercises you can do to specifically strengthen your rotator cuff. Improving strength and stability in these muscles is one of the most effective ways to keep your shoulder healthy and strong. Try them out! See how far you can go!
Looking for more injury tips and advice? Tone and Tighten’s “Feel Better Now” series has you covered! From Achilles tendon and IT band pain to back and neck pain, get tips, advice, and exercise programs to help you feel better now!
Questions or comments about this post or any injury you may be dealing with? I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment below or email me at ToneandTightenFitness{at}gmail.com
Make it happen
Jared
By Jared Beckstrand