Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rotator Cuff Exercises That Will Make a Improvement

By Tom Nicholson


Have you ever thought about how much we use our shoulders? Without them, we couldn't throw a ball, scratch our back, swing our arms, or even raise our arms up and down. Our shoulders get a pretty good workout day in and day out. But all of this use also makes our shoulders susceptible to injury-and that susceptibility increases even more with stress and age. The primary set of muscles in the shoulder-the rotator cuff-is where most shoulder injuries occur. By performing exercises specifically selected to strengthen these rotator cuff muscles, you can help reduce your chances of shoulder injuries.

Like any other muscle, the development of the rotator cuff muscle requires stretching, toning, and training. This will help make it more resistant to injury, strain, and the effects of advancing age. A stronger rotator cuff is less likely to get injured.

All exercises involving the rotator cuff have some very stringent ground rules which can prevent exercise related injuries.

These exercises will give you a good starter workout for your rotator cuff muscles.

Warm Up Before You Exercise

Any time you plan to exercise, you need to warm up and stretch out. Failure to do this can result in sprains or injury. To warm up the rotator cuff, simple exercises like arm circles are ideal. Do 20 reps of each of the following movements per set, and do three sets altogether.

* Keep your arms firmly to your side and then lift them * Keep lifting your arms towards the sky * Bring your arms down behind your back and then bring them to the starting position again. * Repeat

There is also another way to do these exercises. You can simply lift your arms to your side and then move them in such a way that you make imaginary vertical circles. These exercises will warm you up, enhance your blood circulation and prepare you for the subsequent exercises.

Doing Rotations

Bring your arms up so they are at shoulder height, parallel to the surface on which you are standing. Then bend the forearms, making a right angle at your elbow. Begin to rotate your shoulders and rotator cuffs slowly. Complete 20 reps to make a set and do three sets. If desired, add weights gradually as you build your muscle strength.

Add Lateral Raises To The Routine

With your arms relaxed by your side, pick up a small hand weight in each hand. Keeping your arms straight, slowly raise your arm up and away from your side until your arm is parallel to the ground. Slowly lower your arm. Repeat for 12 reps on each side and do three sets altogether.

There are also additional exercises that will work well to strengthen shoulder muscles like the rotator cuff group of muscles. These are a good beginning workout. When you finish, don't forget to cool those muscles down. Simply repeat the exercises you did for the warm up.

Take these exercises slow and steady. Fast movements can cause injuries rather than strengthen muscles-and you definitely don't want that!




Do You found it Useful? Have a look at this blog for other nice tips on Diets for quick weight loss.

No comments:

Post a Comment