Glen Barnett discusses the Rotator Cuff

You may have heard of an injury that many people refer to as “rotor cup”,   “rotatory cup”, or “rotor cuff”. They are referring to a set of four muscles which make up what’s called the Rotator Cuff.  These muscles are the infraspinatus, supraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor.  Big names for very important but often neglected muscles.

They work together to give your shoulder stability during movement whether you are an athlete or just an everyday person.  Because our lives have become more  sedentary where we are sitting more at our desks or computers, our posture has suffered.  As a result muscle groups like our Rotator Cuff muscles have become weak and ineffective.

This muscle group can also become stressed by over-exercising, poor technique, accidents or not controlling movement effectively.

So what do you do to help it?  Firstly be aware your mum was right, when she said stand up straight, shoulders back, tummy in.  If you’re round shouldered and tight through your chest you need to stretch it, to open it out again.  Then this is a good starting strength exercise using a theraband or some tubing.  If you have an injury be guided by your physiotherapist on the level of resistance with your tubing.  These muscles can get fatigued quite quickly when they are not conditioned.

 

Tie the theraband or tubing around a pole or shut it in a door.  Stand with your left side facing the door and the tubing in your right hand. Step away from the door to create some tension in the tubing. Standing with good posture gently squeeze your shoulderblades partially together.

 

Now imagine that you are a door frame, bend your elbow at 90degrees against your side waist area. Your elbow is now a hinge so kept it glued to you, the door frame.  Your forearm is now the door so the action is like you are opening the door (as you pull the tubing away from the pole) then closing the door as you gently release the tubing towards the pole), keeping your elbow hinged against your side waist.  Try doing up to 10 repetitions then turn around to change arms x 3, 3 x a week.

 

If you’d like more guidance on this exercise or to try a free class,call Glen Coffs Coast Health Club Toormina on 66586222.

 

 

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