Weight Training and Rotator Cuff Injury

Bodybuilders and others who train with weights can be very susceptible to rotator cuff injury.  This is because of the nature of the activity.  Many isolation exercises and machines force the body to move in ways that are less than natural in terms of everyday movements.  These kinds of movements place stresses on joints and muscles in ways they are unaccustomed to being stressed and this increases the likelihood of injury.

If you are at all familiar with your rotator cuff it is probably because you have injured it at some stage as it is a part of the body that usually goes unnoticed until something goes wrong.  The rotator cuff comprises of four muscles and their respective tendons: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.  These muscles work together to support the shoulder joint and unfortunately can be quite vulnerable to injury in certain circumstances.  Poor form and poor exercise choice (with regard to biomechanics) as well as overuse can take their toll on the rotator cuff.

A rotator cuff injury is not pleasant and can be quite debilitating.  If you’ve ever injured your rotator cuff you will have realized how much you took these muscles for granted prior to the injury.  An injured rotator cuff can restrict your shoulder and arm movement (especially overhead movement) and can severely impact your ability to train effectively as the should joint is used in every upper body exercise.  It can also be very painful at night if you usually sleep on your side.  The injury can take a long time to heal and may leave weaknesses that make the cuff susceptible to re-injury.  Extreme cases may even require surgery. 

Exercises and physical therapy are non-surgical ways of treating an existing rotator cuff injury but as with anything, prevention is better than cure.  So how can rotator cuff injury be prevented?  An awareness of your rotator cuff and its vulnerabilities, caution while training, strict form, warming up and cooling down effectively, good exercise choice and a balanced routine should all add up to provide solid insurance against injury and swift recovery in the event of an injury.

Anyone who engages in weight training regularly should already have good body awareness and be following a balanced routine.  They should also be warming up and cooling down properly.  These are the “common sense” factors that are widely known by most weight trainers. 

However, less weight trainers are knowledgeable about the exercises that can either place undue stress on the muscles of the rotator cuff or increase the danger of impingement and thus should be avoided or used with extreme care.  One such exercise the upright row. 

The upright row is usually done with heavy weight and places a lot of stress on the elbow joints and wrist joints as well as the shoulder.  To look at it is a very unnatural seeming movement and this alone should give us caution.  As far as the rotator cuff is concerned the problem is that at the top of the movement, where there is the most stress, the shoulder is in internal rotation and this greatly increases the chance of impingement which can result in degeneration of the rotator cuff, bursitis and tendonitis.  If you find this movement in the slightest bit uncomfortable then you should seriously consider dropping it from your routine.

The upright row is just one example of a ‘standard’ exercise that places the rotator cuff at risk.  There are others and if you train regularly you should find out if any of the exercises you routinely do are likely to be putting you at risk of injury.  Remember, prevention is better than cure.

Rotator Cuff Links | Rotator Cuff Articles | Rotator Cuff Injury