You may already know this, but your rotator cuff is four separate muscles in each shoulder and they share two jobs, rotation and cuffing. One of the most common injuries we have is micro tears to the rotator cuff and it comes from when our shoulder girdle is in a forward position and we’re going to do something and we’re not stabilizing the joint and then the little muscles have to do the job that the big muscles are designed to do.

It’s a very common injury. If you’ve ever had any referred pain here, soreness, it could be related to that. Take this weight and place it right in line with your navel. We’re going to start with strengthening the rotator cuff, the external rotators.

The knees are bent. Notice I have a rolled up mat in my waistline. That’s optional. It feels good and supports your back. The weight is by your belly. We have a tendency to want to see what we’re doing, but we want our head back and long so our spine is in its full length and then in slow motion you’ll raise the weight up.

If you’re able to move the weight really far, you’re probably leaning in your body. Error on the side of pitching yourself forward so that you can barely make it up to vertical with your forearm. Start with a set of 10.

If you’re doing it right, two pounds is enough and you should feel some fatigue setting in after 10 repetitions. After 10, pause with your forearm parallel to the floor and do little pulses. Remember less is more.

If the whole body is wiggling, then you’re not isolating the right muscles. After that, you’ll notice you’re ready to put that weight down. Do a couple shoulder rolls just to relax and then pick the weight back up in this grip.

I like to call it the lazy grip because you’re going to have to put your arms in the shoulder joint that can limit our range of motion. You’re going to take the weight up in the air and touch it to the floor behind your bottom.

Bring it up in the air. where your arm will rotate naturally and touch it to the floor behind your head. Concentrate on your breathing. You may feel some popping, clicking, grinding sore spots. Long, slow, smooth breath is the key.

After 10 repetitions, place the weight down and do a few more shoulder rolls. You could always add in another set of the strengthening. Just like when you’re lifting weights, two sets or three sets is a great idea.

Weaving in the strengthening in with the stretching. Next, you’re going to take the weight with a totally straight arm and just raise it straight up in the air. And I know two pounds might seem really light, but we’re trying to activate and wake up the small muscles in the back of the shoulder joint that hold everything together, that cough the upper arm bone into the shoulder.

So that little weight is enough. Then with your arms straight, take it up in line with the back of your head. may or may not touch the floor. When you get to here, rotate the thumb down and touch behind your back.

So there’s a difference between the straight arm variation versus the one where you have the lazy grip and the bent elbow. So you can see the difference. Once again, create your own program. Weave in a second set of the strengthening and the 10 pulses.

Always put the weight down, give the shoulder a chance to relax. We’re trying to strengthen the weaker muscles in the shoulders, but we gotta make sure that the overactive muscles, like the upper traps, don’t take over and create that bunched up feeling that makes our neck short.

The last part is the best part. You’re gonna pull your knees up like this. If for some reason the pad is starting to bother you, just take it away. Take your bottom arm out from underneath you. This we have already covered in one of the other videos, but it weaves in perfectly with this sequence.

The weight is resting in the top, in the bottom hand. Your knees are glued together. You’re gonna raise the weight and look at it and turn your chest bone as you turn your head and chest and everything opens to the side.

You can always use this hand to hold your knees down. When you’re ready, come back slowly, moving your whole entire rib gauge as one unit. You could do this five times, you could do it 10 if it feels good.

And remember if the pad underneath your waistline is bothering you, just take it away. This little series done on both sides over time is going to strengthen the back of your shoulder joint and really help you to have a more anchored shoulder girdle so that when you’re doing your everyday activities, you’re less likely to get hurt.