Rotator Cuff Exercises

Rotator cuff exercises are a wonderful way to treat, and prevent, injuries to the shoulder. The tendons and muscles that attach the humerus (upper arm bone) and scapula (shoulder blade) are the parts that make up the rotator cuff. Injuries including tendonitis, shoulder impingement syndrome and tears in the rotator cuff are generally owing to either over-stressed or fragile out-of-shape and tight muscles.

You can use simple light dumbbells to perform many rotator cuff exercises. Many trainers agree that beginners should try weight lifting with free weights rather than using weight machines since most people manage machines improperly and are much more likely to injure themselves. These lifting moves commonly involve moving the shoulder, with your elbows bent at 90 degrees, from assorted angles.

It is critical to understand several other issues before merely picking up some dumbbells and randomly performing some lifting moves. Properly warming up is very essential if you wish to get the most out of your labors and to evade injury. This is especially true if you have a weak shoulder or are trying to develop the shoulder after an injury. Warm-ups consisting of a number of arm circles, from small to large and rotating in varied directions, are a great way to loosen up your arm for a workout.

When you have a warm-up selected that you are comfortable with, you will need to consider which rotator cuff exercises to perform and how many of each you should perform. Most beginners will want to pick approximately 4 exercises with each move toning the shoulder in a distinct way. Although in the short-term simply focusing on one muscle could present you the muscular exterior you yearn for, the tension and strain you will be putting the body under is not worthwhile.

For the objective of strengthening and increasing flexibility, you will have to do more repetitions of a movement with lighter weights versus merely a couple of reps with heavier weights. Start by doing two sets of 8 to 10 repetitions of each exercise and increase up to three or four sets of 20 to 30 reps each. Recovery days when you do not workout are vital, particularly when you are just beginning since it supplies the muscles time to heal, shot for two to three days off a week.

Having a good stretching routine after lifting weights is a simple procedure to get even more out of the workout by increasing your flexibility. Decide on at least 3 different stretches for the arms and hold each one for no less then 15 seconds. Stretching ought to feel agreeable and never discomforting. If it is painful you are either stretching too far or you are aggravating an injury. If you are healing from an injury, you may want to ice down your shoulder with either an ice pack or a bag of frozen vegetables that you have specified for the shoulder, (mark this bag of veggies with a permanent marker so you do not accidentally eat it!).

Finding rock-solid rotator cuff exercises that you can grow into will provide you with the shoulder strength and appearance you have always wanted. These lifting moves are also fantastic habits for getting shape and are thought of as low impact. Never finish an exercise that hurts the arm past the customary strain you experience from weight lifting, there are many different exercises and you should never do something that injures the body.

You can read further research concerning rotator cuff exercises and further build upper body muscles.