How Heavy Should I Go on Rotator Cuff Exercises?
The rotator cuff is a group muscles and tendons that helps the shoulder rotate the upper arm. The rotator cuff is essential for shoulder stability, but it is important not to use too much resistance when exercising the rotator cuff.
-
Purpose
-
The rotator cuff allows the upper arm to rotate and provides strength to the shoulder joint, allowing it to resist injuries like strains and dislocation. Exercising the rotator cuff can increase the shoulder's resistance to injury.
Rehabilitation
-
Rotator cuff exercises are often prescribed as physical therapy to rehabilitate an injured shoulder. When rehabbing an injury, use as little weight as possible to fatigue the rotator cuff muscle--gravity alone or a small jar, water bottle or light resistance band is often sufficient.
-
Size
-
The rotator cuff is a small specialized muscle that will never grow large and powerful. Your goal when working out the rotator cuff should be lifting one to five pounds as many times as necessary to fatigue the muscle.
Strain
-
Attempting to lift too much weight with the rotator cuff may cause strains or tears that can cause shoulder pain and increase the chances of shoulder injury.
Considerations
-
For those that have never worked the rotator cuff before, using one pound of weight or less will often be enough to fatigue the muscle quickly. If it takes you more than 50 repetitions to fatigue the muscle, consider slightly increasing the weight.
-
