One of the things I suggested in my previous post to help avoid injuring your rotator cuff was to “Do the best you can to avoid activities or movements that place undue stress on your shoulder joints and so involve a high risk of injury to the rotator cuff.”

While that may seem like simple and common sense advice it does bear thinking consideration.  In reality, avoiding or minimizing activities and movements that put alot of strain and stress on the rotator cuff can be easier said than done for some people.

For instance, athletes in sports such as baseball by necessity do a lot of throwing which is very stressful to the rotator cuff.  It’s not really practical for a baseballer to either avoid or minimize throwing so the recommendation would be to include specific rotator cuff exercises into his/her regular workouts to strengthen the cuff and make it more injury resistant.

For the rest of us it should be somewhat easier in every day activity to avoid placing undue strain on the rotator cuff.  And for most of us, if we’re able to do this and have no existing injury to the rotator cuff, there is no real need to incorporate rotator cuff exercises into our normal exercise routine.

The main key to avoiding excessive strain on the shoulder joint is to listen to your body.  Try to keep your movements within your body’s natural range of motion.  Everyone will be different here as some are more flexible than others.  If an activity or movement gives you pain or makes your shoulder feel uncomfortable or slightly strained then don’t do it – chances are you are putting the joint and muscles at risk.  This same principle goes for not just isolated movements but also for repetitive movements.  In fact, it is especially true for repetitive movements.

While you may feel fine performing a movement or activity for a little while – if after repetition you get pain or discomfort then your body is telling you to take a break and if you want to avoid injury you should heed its warning!  The rotator cuff can be vulnerable to repetitive strain injury and those kind of injuries can take a long time to heal.  Rotator cuff exercises can still help with the recovery but in the later, less acute stage.  Repetitive strain injuries are something you really want to avoid at all costs.

One other point worth mentioning here that I’ll try to go into more detail on in a later post is that weight trainers and bodybuilders must be very careful with their exercise selection and, of course, always follow strict form.

Certain common weight training exercises can place the shoulder joint in very vulnerable positions at certain points in the movement.  Although some seem to perform them with no ill effect many folk who do them, especially with sloppy form, are courting disaster.  Without going too in depth now, one exercise I do not recommend is the upright row.  The movement alone is very unnatural and it can place a lot of stress on the shoulder joint at the top of the movement.  More on this another time…

Unfortunately in some sports and occupations rotator cuff injury is not uncommon. This is because under certain conditions, especially where repetitive stress is concerned, the small muscles that make up the rotator cuff can be quite vulnerable to injury. Sudden stresses and strains that routinely occur in sports like baseball and martial arts can be extremely stressful to the muscles of the rotator cuff. Poor form while performing weight training exercises is another risk factor.

Even something as seemingly innocent as the repetition of certain movements throughout the course of normal daily activity can lead to injury if continued for long enough. Of course, certain occupations carry a higher risk of repetitive strain type injuries than others but it is something we all should be mindful of. Pain should be your guide – if an particular action or activity hurts after doing if for a while that’s your body’s way of telling you to stop and take a break.

Once the damage is done, a rotator cuff injury can be surprisingly debilitating. These injuries can be quite painful even while sleeping and restrict arm movement and carrying capacity on the affected side to a startling degree.

A rotator cuff injury can also take a long time to heal or, worse, may even require surgery if the muscle tear is extreme.

There is some good news, however – you can take steps that will greatly reduce the likelihood of your ever having to deal with a rotator cuff injury. Here are three things you can do:

1. Do the best you can to avoid activities or movements that place undue stress on your shoulder joints and so involve a high risk of injury to the rotator cuff.

2. Secondly, if your sport or occupation puts you at risk of rotator cuff injury make sure you keep the muscles of your rotator cuff strong and flexible. You can do this by including specific rotator cuff exercises and stretches in your exercise routine.

3. Be sure to always do a proper warm up before any vigorous exercise or activity.

I’ll go into more detail on each of these in later posts.