The Daily News – Fit to Be Tried by Devin Sherrington
My wife tends to complain when she has to peel bag of carrots. Not because she hates carrots, but because she gets a sharp, painful pinch under her shoulder blade that persists for hours, sometimes days. She’s been doing her rotator cuff muscle exercises lately so she should see a difference in a few weeks.
If you ever feel a pinch or slight pain deep inside and under your shoulder blade you likely have some rotator cuff problems.
The rotator cuff muscles are a group of four small muscles that help keep the ball-and-socket joint of your shoulder in place. They lie under your shoulder blade, and if you’ve ever injured them you know how those little guys can be easily aggravated.
Rotator cuff muscles can get strained in any number of ways. From a sudden fall, overuse, training with too much weight, or an accident. Rotator cuff problems affect a huge number of people.
Luckily you can strengthen and stretch the rotator cuff muscles so they won’t cause you pain.
The rotator cuff muscles are tiny so when you’re strengthening them don’t go crazy with the weight. Basically a 3 to 5 pound dumbbell for women and 8 to 12 pounds for men is more than enough weight.
When performing rotator cuff exercises, keep the movement slow and controlled. Also make sure you don’t go to a point where you experience pain. If you go that far it means you’re close to hurting them more than they already are. Keep the motion pain free, even if it means you can’t move very far. The movement will come as the muscles stretch and strengthen.
Start by lying on your stomach on the side of a bench or a bed. Put your left arm out at shoulder level with your elbow bent to 90 degrees. Your left hand should be down, hanging off the bed.
With your elbow bent, slowly raise your left hand. Stop when your hand is close to the level of your shoulder, or you feel discomfort. It should look like a reverse L at the top of the movement. Lower the hand slowly. Repeat the exercise 12 to 20 times. Then change sides of the bed and exercise your right arm.
As your shoulder feels stronger add more sets until you build to three sets of 12 to 20 repetitions.
Remember stretching your rotator cuff is an excellent way to make those muscles more supple and healthy. A good stretch for your rotator cuff muscles is the door jam stretch.
Your arms out from your torso at a right angle. Bend your elbows so they form a 90-degree angle. Place your forearm against a wall or doorjamb and slowly lean forward. You arms should look like reverse L’s. Lean forward so you feel the stretch but not until it’s painful. Hold for 20 seconds and release. Repeat this three times.
Once you’ve mastered these movements ask a trainer to show you some more ways to work on your rotator cuff. It’ll be the best money you ever spent, because it will keep you pain free. You don’t have to suffer. You just have to strengthen.
