Rotator cuff muscle training method

The shoulders are the hub for movement of our upper body. In this joint, the rotator cuff muscles play a vital role. For some fitness enthusiasts, more emphasis will be placed on training the rotator cuff muscles. So, do you know how to exercise the rotator cuff muscles? Today we will teach you some simple methods. At the same time, I also hope that everyone can understand the rotator cuff muscles and their main functions.

During exercise, the shoulder is the part most prone to injury, and the most common problem is insufficient strength of the rotator cuff muscles responsible for stability!

Rotator cuff muscles: They wrap around our shoulder joints like sleeves and are composed of four small muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor.

The four muscles that connect the scapula and humerus work together to allow the shoulder joint to make complex three-dimensional movements; allowing the arm to perform movements such as raising, abducting, extending and rotating.

Although the rotator cuff muscles are classified as small muscle groups and are not the main source of strength, they play an important role in stabilizing the humerus and shoulder during a large range of motion of the shoulder joint.

The rotator cuff is an extremely important muscle group during exercise, so strengthening the rotator cuff and shoulder blade that stabilize the shoulder joint will make the shoulder muscles stronger and help reduce the occurrence of injuries.

Today we recommend a good move: Standing 90 degrees shoulder external rotation

You can stand, sit or lie down!

Use dumbbells to train! If you are just starting out, just go with nothing! Start with light weights and gradually increase the load each week.

How to do it?

Raise your hands, the starting position is like dumbbell shoulder press, arms bent close to 90 degrees, upper arms and torso close to 90 degrees

Then hold the dumbbells tightly, activate your shoulders, rotate downward until your forearms and torso are perpendicular, then externally rotate your shoulders to lift the dumbbells up!

Remember to move slowly and in a controlled manner!

Perform 3 sets of 10 reps

Functions of the rotator cuff muscles:

These muscles all originate from different areas of the scapula and insert into the head of the humerus, and they all play an important role in keeping the head of the humerus stable within the socket. In addition to stability, each muscle plays a different role in humeral motion:

1. The supraspinatus muscle originates from the upper edge of the scapula and inserts into the head of the humerus. It helps the deltoids to abduct the humerus (movements that raise the arm out to the side, such as lateral raises).

2. The infraspinatus has several attachment points on the posterior aspect of the scapula and the head of the humerus. This muscle is responsible for several humeral actions, including external rotation (movements that rotate the arm to move the biceps away from the body, such as a tennis backhand), horizontal abduction (such as a reverse fly), and extension (such as a pull-up).

3. The teres minor originates slightly below where the infraspinatus is located on the back of the scapula and inserts into the head of the humerus. This muscle is responsible for several humeral actions, including external rotation, horizontal abduction, and extension. Like the infraspinatus, it is responsible for maintaining stability at the posterior aspect of the glenohumeral joint.

4. The subscapularis is the only rotator cuff muscle that originates from the front of the shoulder blade, so it is hidden behind the rib cage and obscured by several larger muscles. Because it embeds into the humeral head, it is responsible for internal rotation of the humerus, adduction (movements that move the arm toward the body, such as cable crosses), extension, and stabilization (particularly in front of and below the socket).