Not another rotator cuff thread

[anthrax]

Most rotator cuff injuries are due to an imbalance between the shoulders/back (underdeveloped) and the chest (overdeveloped)

Doing RC work with light weights and stretching is fine but isn't it more important to do heavy back and deltoids movements to have those muscles catch up?

 

[TheOak84]

i like doin really heavy face pulls and rows, but to warm up, light facepulls with bands. rotations, and some pullups.

do u think that the heavier u go, the more u have to warm up?
i never really thougth about that, and my shoulder is kinda bothered.

i think a good 10 mins is required to warm up, especially if your gonna be pressing 300+

 

[fortunatesun]

Doing RC work with light weights and stretching is fine but isn't it more important to do heavy back and deltoids movements to have those muscles catch up?

Yep, at least according to the information I got in the Training Vault sticky. Snatch grip behind the head overhead presses are an Oly lift not done in the US too much any more but strengthen the very muscles subject to stress.

I've worked them into my rotation. Though I can't say for sure they'll help with rotator cuff problems as I don't presently have any, I can say how relatively weak I am on these things compared to my other overhead presses. It's been good from a hypertrophy standpoint too,even with the lowered weights. It was a revelation how a large portion of my upper back had been overlooked through the standard exercise selections.

 

[bignate73]

Most rotator cuff injuries are due to an imbalance between the shoulders/back (underdeveloped) and the chest (overdeveloped)

Doing RC work with light weights and stretching is fine but isn't it more important to do heavy back and deltoids movements to have those muscles catch up?

its just as important, to maintain muscular balance on opposing motions of the joint. your body won't allow you to get too out of proportion strenght-wise. you can only exert so much force, and with each of those forces, your body has to be able to handle the deceleration, which is the job usually of the opposing and support muscles. its more apparent in explosive movements like jumping, throwing etc. but carries over into force around a joint as well (in the case of weight lifting). balance of ab and lower back, bicep and tricep, quad and hamstring, hip flexor and hip extensor etc. i'm generalizing, in compound movements its a bit more complex but since you mentioned the RC, then yes you have the opposing large muscle groups that need strengthening, but the RC itself is where the movement happens...where the rubber meets the road, and you want it supported completely.

 

[DZLS]

a good exercise for the RC is the cuban press... you can go heavier on this one as you get stronger...

 

[anthrax]

fortunatesun,

You're right, I do behind the neck overhead press

My chiro, who's also a weight lifter and did some powerlifting, advised me to do so and assured me that it is NOT more dangerous that the regular OH press

What is no good is pull down behind the neck where you have to "break" you neck

 

[fortunatesun]

I think some problems can occur in the seated version, though, due to the awkward angle they fix the hooks in relation to the bench. I prefer standing, but if I did them seated I'd do them using a rack or have someone hand off to me.

Doing them behind the head in addition to the other presses seems to bring some balance to the equation- good for the rotators if I'm understanding BigNate correctly. As I said earlier, I'm doing them wide grip. Getting stronger in that region has proved useful in doing cleans and snatches- controling the bar as it comes up instead of having to power it into place.