The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. They surround the shoulder joint and provide stability while the shoulder joint is moving. These muscles are extremely important in all shoulder movements, especially overhead and rotational. Knowledge about ways to strengthen these muscles can help improve function and prevent injuries.
Step 1
Begin with isometric contractions, where you make a muscle contraction without causing any joint motion. Push into a wall going forward, out to the sides, rotating inward and rotating outward.
Step 2
Use light weights to strengthening through the complete range of motion. Raise arm up in front of you, out to the side as if doing jumping jack, rotating outward and rotating inward. The rotation should be done with elbow bent and in standing/sitting or laying on your side.
Step 3
Increase resistance as you can tolerate, but research shows in oder to improve overall muscle strength you need to use 60-80% of one repetition maximum.
Step 4
Progress to diagonal and more functional motions that required higher level of stability. Do exercises that require you to elevate your shoulder by taking it across your body and then rotating inward or outward.
Step 5
Train the muscles ability to react quickly and improve power production. Performing activities such as throwing and catching require the shoulder muscles to react quickly and forcefully in order to slow the momentum of the throw.
Step 6
Preform shoulder strengthening activities in weight bearing position such as hands and knees, which requires complex shoulder girdle stability.
Step 7
Then progress these childbearing activities to be done on an unstable surface such as a Swiss ball or soft mat to challenge kinesthetic awareness.
