Strengthen Rotator Cuffs?

[swain]

Hi

I damaged rotator cuff on right shoulder just over a year ago, I presume from not warming up properly and spending an hour on a cross trainer on maximum speed, Doh!

I left it a few months and went back, i could feel a twinge for a while after that so I went to a Physio, he recommended doing alot of stretches and getting advice from one of the trainers in the gym. I did this and was told to use light weights for biceps/tricepts for a while. I don't know if this is great advice or the trainer just not knowing what he was talking about.

I haven't had any pain for a while but I'm still paranoid to lift anything too heavy in case it goes again.

Can anyone help me out pls?

[swanso5]

Ext Rot Rehab
• When someone is coming back from an ext rot impingement use the following progression…BW Push Up Hold…BW Push Up…Wt Push Up…Low Pulley X Ova…Hip Pulley X Ova…Neutral Grip DB Press…BB Board Press with gradual lowering…Decline BB Press…Falt DB Press…Incline DB Press…BB Bench Press…BB Incline Press…go in order of closed chain before open chain…arms below shoulder level than above…traction (pulling humeral head away from socket as in a X Ova) before approximation (forcing humeral head into the fossa as in a Bench)…iso and long neg’s before regular speed movements…continue to strengthen scapula retractors and depressors and humeral ext rot…also continue ROM and soft tissue work on upper traps, levator scapulae, pecs, lats, front delts, subscapularis and tes major while paying close attention to posture…ice after exercise and ART (foam roller thing) as often as possible

post whatever you don't understand just cut and pasted from archives

[swain]

swanso5

Thanks for the help so far. Your site seems to be down at the moment. Do you have any other reference material as I do not know many of these excercises. Also, how many times a week should I do these before I start using the bench etc.

[swanso5]

the bloke who set the site has taken it dowen or something but hasn't contacted me so i'm not sure what's going on with it

as for the exercises:

bw = bodyweight

x ova = cross over cable machine and where it days low or hip pulley that is what height you want the cable coming from when doing the exercise

board press = basically a 1/2 range of motion bench press just imagine that you have a board or 3 on your chest so that you can only lower the bar 1/2 way...will work better if you have supports either side that you can guide the bar down to such as a power rack (not a smith machine though)

falt = flat!!

for each exercise start with 1 set of 8 negative reps (the lowering portion of the rep) making each one 5 - 6sec long with a smooth (not jerky) movement...check for pain during and after (up to 12hrs later even) and once no pain is recorded, try 2 sets of 10 - 20 normal reps and once pain again is no longer, move to the next exercise with the same sequence

also include scapula work (scapula depressions and scapular elevations - search you'll find them) as well as humeral external rotation work (also search)

[swain]

the bloke who set the site has taken it dowen or something but hasn't contacted me so i'm not sure what's going on with it

as for the exercises:

bw = bodyweight

x ova = cross over cable machine and where it days low or hip pulley that is what height you want the cable coming from when doing the exercise

board press = basically a 1/2 range of motion bench press just imagine that you have a board or 3 on your chest so that you can only lower the bar 1/2 way...will work better if you have supports either side that you can guide the bar down to such as a power rack (not a smith machine though)

falt = flat!!

for each exercise start with 1 set of 8 negative reps (the lowering portion of the rep) making each one 5 - 6sec long with a smooth (not jerky) movement...check for pain during and after (up to 12hrs later even) and once no pain is recorded, try 2 sets of 10 - 20 normal reps and once pain again is no longer, move to the next exercise with the same sequence

also include scapula work (scapula depressions and scapular elevations - search you'll find them) as well as humeral external rotation work (also search)

Thanks very much man, I really appreciate it. The last thing I wanted was to pretend I knew what I was doing only to miss another year of life injured.

[swain]

Just another thing I thought of, would I be better off to stay away from other upper body workouts while I build these up? Would once or twice a week be sufficient

[swanso5]

stay away from any chest and shoulder exercises besides what's prescribed above...some back work and proably all arm work will be alright just always do the rehab stuff 1st...this will probably make back work hard as you will have fatigued all the stabilisation muscles surrounding the prime movers (back, chest etc) so don't try and over do it...probably do upper body every 3 - 5 days depending on you pull up which means you'll need to go to a 8 or maybe 9 day schedule...just avoid outting the should in an unfavouralbe position...if you squat, back squats might be out from the elavted external rotation position you have holding the bar...maybe try front squats, or db sl squats or even better give pistols a try and glute ham raises....with the extended schedule you could even put in a sprinting session which is great fat loss and muscle building while half of upper body is out

[elgatogrande]

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Sub ... ation.html

This is an exercise that targets very specifically your rotator cuff. You can even do it while lying on the couch watching TV. Just use very light weight.