by Answer is Fitness on April 16, 2010
Your rotator
cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that act together to
stabilize the shoulder joint. It is called the 'Scapulohumeral' area of
the human body (that attaching to your scapula and humerus bones), and
hose muscles being your teres major, teres minor, deltoid,
supraspinatus, infraspinatus and subscapularis muscles. How does one
properly train or exercise your rotator cuff?
Most of the muscles in your Rotator Cuff musculature are used for
internal and external rotation (turning your arm/palm in and out). This
all has to be done when griping something. In other words, your rotator
cuff muscles are worked when you exercise your grip. Most injuries to
your rotator cuff occur when there are quick, explosive shoulder
motions. Rotator Cuff injuries also often occur because of improper
lifting techniques/form. If you are involved in a sport where you want to
make sure you do not hurt your rotator cuff, work on your grip.
When you exercise, utilize your hands a lot. Don't wear those wrist
straps that help you lift more (back exercises, shrugs, dead lifts,
etc), but instead workout using your natural grip ... Hold the weights
so that your forearms also get stressed/tired. The more you grip things
strongly and stress your muscles, the harder your rotator cuff muscles
have to work. This leads to strengthening the musculature and preventing
injury! Use your grip as much as you can when you exercise so that you
won't tear your rotator cuff, even if you just hold weights for a
prolonged period of time.
