Does anyone know of a book and/or article where the author puts together rotator cuff, scapular, and deltoid training?
There is a ton of stuff here at T-Nation but it is scattered and either no one has laid down guidelines on how to incorporate it all or I’ve been unable to find it.
'preciate it!
Sean
Let me start off by saying that I am a Physical Therapist that specializes in the treatment of shoulder injuries. To my knowledge, there is no article nor book that “puts it all together” for the average person. I think its for fear of creating a “cookbook”, and as you know, everyone is different. I just created a protocol for my company. It includes balancing scapular protraction & retraction (push-ups and rows), scapular upward & downward rotation (face pulls, wall slides, Blackburn’s exercises), and internal & external rotation of the rotator cuff (prone shoulder extension with external rotation & prone shoulder horizontal abduction with external rotation). Hopefully, you have some knowledge on this and understand what I am saying. If not google those exercises and you’ll be able to find pictures on the net. Don’t forget to balance out your thoracic spine rotation side-to-side and stretch your pec minor (Bill & Mike have a nice pic of this in their recent T-Nation article). Put all of that together. Do every other day and you’ll easily be well on your way to optimal shoulder health. I hope this helped you in some way. Best of luck to you.
Mike
Thanks Mike.
Should I vary the loading parameters as I would in my “normal” programs? Or just take a one pound at a time approach? Some of the scapular movements can involve quite a bit of weight.
I’ve kind of avoided doing anything about this problem hoping it would fix itself but it’s getting considerably worse and I’ve resolved myself into having the healthiest, best conditioned shoulder girdle possible so any advice is helpful.
Sean
Sean,
Probably the only exercises that you can do a lot of weight with are the row and push-up (BW plus a vest). Otherwise, if you’re doing them right, you won’t need any weight. I have my patients start without weight, so that they trigger the correct muscles. After about 3-4 weeks, if they’re ready, then they could add a light weight (can of soda). This is plenty. Remember, if you’re using a lot of weight, then you’re probably not using the muscles you want to to perform the lift. I treated a IFBB pro bodybuilder that could barely perform 30 reps of the exercise without any weight. Good luck.
Mike