strong rotator cuff muscles are important for healthy pain-free shoulders this video will
cover what mistakes to avoid and the smarter alternatives to train your rotator cuff
poor exercise selection and wrong technique is common let's fix that chances are someone
somewhere is currently doing this movement with the goal of shoulder warm-up rehab or prehab on
the surface it looks pretty sound right the arms are going through external rotation doesn't this
train the rotator cuff the answer is definitely no the resistance isn't going to stress the posterior
rotator cuff you see gravity and the weight are acting downwards all that's really happening is an
isometric bicep contraction to keep the arms at 90 degrees a superior alternative for this specific
movement is using a machine or a resistance band the tension is acting in the horizontal plane
this means the rotator cuff is now functioning correctly do you only have access to weights no
worries get yourself into side lying now we're actually working against gravity and this will
correctly target the back of the shoulder be super strict with the setup by lying directly on your
side with the head supported we want to minimise all the unnecessary superfluous extraneous
movements that are happening in the body we want the movement to be purely external rotation
and no movement anywhere else moving on let's take a look at the popular cuban rotation this
exercise is very common because it has the potential for loading up and going heavy
with these we're now opting for a 1990 position at the shoulder and the elbow rotator cuff 101
suggests moving to an overhead position is a progression however it can be argued
the standing cuban rotation using free weights is an inferior resistance method
once again we're facing the issue of the weight acting in relation to gravity sure the outer to
mid range of motion is challenged but when the weight stacks vertically over the body
not much is really happening now once the weight goes behind head level we're only
effectively stretching into external rotation which isn't overly useful for stabilization gains
here are two more effective ways to train external rotation let's cover them both so you can decide
in the interest of replicating specificity with a 90 90 unsupported elbow bend over
the first thing you're going to notice is i'm using much lighter weight plates instead because
we're working directly against gravity through a full range of motion it's humblingly hard
our rear delts and lateral delts maintain the shoulder to elbow position while the posterior
cuff does the rotating what makes these an effective alternative is the inner range when
the hands near the head actually feels challenging this is a major importance because the inner range
of motion contraction is actually where we're the weakest which means we've got the most to gain
if you want to go heavier and overload a lower rep range elbow support is a good option
consistent with the theme of this video we're now authentically challenged against gravity
be sure to use strict joint angles do this by maintaining a 1990 shoulder and elbow angle while
you rotate once you contrast the feeling from the floor versus standing cuban it's going to become
very clear how important exercise setup is for rotator cuff sensation stimulation and strength
for those of you that are lazy when it comes to setup or you just don't have free weights
listen up bands are the perfect alternative as it solves countless problems we're now pulling
directly against the line of pull the line of resistance most importantly we're being challenged
towards the limit of external rotation that inner range contraction we're no longer at the mercy
of gravity lastly if you're wondering why we're setting up in kneeling it's very simple we want
to put our lumbar spine into flexion to avoid any cheating that way we can localize the movement to
our back shoulders and rotator cuff here's some technical mistakes and the correct alternatives
everyone should apply most people have poor control over their scapula which limits results
scapular setting allows the rotator cuff muscles to work which minimizes the larger global muscles
from assisting too much once the elbow begins drifting away from the body the deltoids are
being used to cheat rotation simply set the elbow into a fixed position and keep it stationary the
shoulder and the external rotators are certainly going to get a workout as intended a really common
mistake the overly ambitious trainee makes is using super heavy resistance if momentum is
required or range of motion needs to be cut short these are an obvious sign things are too demanding
this approach excessively drains the central nervous system while not even localizing stress
to the cuff muscles this is a very poor effort to reward ratio why do we have to do everything
in absolute extremes choose a happy middle ground use a moderate resistance and enjoy those rotator
cuff gains when and how to train the rotator cuff confuse as many people the best warm up
is the exercise you're training on the day for example if you're about to do front levers doing
a regression first is the most effective warm-up possible simply include rotator cuff exercises
after a calisthenics workout or on off days timing matters lastly we want to keep track of all
objective methods in order to force progressive overload this includes band resistance or weight
sets and reps and also weekly frequency if you want to get better at calisthenics
you follow a fitness faqs program remain consistent and seek tangible improvement
a strong rotator cuff is no different we must track and we must progress
where possible thanks everyone for watching visit fitnessfaqs.com for the best calisthenics program
otherwise feel free to watch another youtube video to level up your knowledge and train smarter