Tough Cuff: Bullet-proof Your Rotators for Pain-free Power
by Bill Starr
Page 4
Bent-over rows are also great for mending and strengthening the rotator cuff and certain types of shoulder problems. Use dumbbells, one hand at a time, for three or four sets of 20. Those hit the rotator cuff group and the rear deltoid straight on. Not long ago a friend said he was having chronic pain in his shoulders after every workout and that it often continued into the night. I knew he kept some weights and dumbbells in his garage and told him to start doing one set of 50 reps of bent-over rows with a light dumbbell at the end of every session and to do a couple of sets at home on non-training days. A week later he checked in, happy as a lark. No more pain. He does the bent-over rows six days a week now.
I should mention that one of the primary reasons that many trainees experience rotator cuff or rear-delt pain even when they use perfect form on the flat bench is simply disproportionate strength. Many who train only do heavy exercises for the front part of the upper body. The back, particularly the upper back, is neglected, and if they do any work for their traps or middle back, it's of the weenie nature'light weights, with moderate-to-high reps to keep from breaking a sweat. So while the front portions of their shoulders get extremely strong, the rear portions lag way behind. Eventually, those relatively weaker muscles cannot handle the stress placed on them and start to complain.
The problem is easily corrected. Start doing some heavy back work, especially for those groups in the upper back: high pulls, heavy shrugs, long pulls with lots of weight and bent-over rows. If the problem has not escalated too far, you can remedy it in a short time. Of course, you need to start out using sensible poundages, but your goal should be to end up shrugging in the mid-to-high 500s, high pulling in the mid-300s and handling 300-plus on the bent-over row. When you reach those high standards, your back muscles will be plenty strong, and as an added bonus, the new back strength will also enhance your pressing power.
Wide-grip high pulls are great for developing strong lats. Wide-grip chins and lat pulldowns are also useful. Bent-over rows involve the lats as well. The lats get plenty of work, especially if you're doing heavy high pulls and shrugs, so you don't have to do anything specific for them. Most trainees give their triceps enough strength work; however, when I'm trying to improve a weak or damaged rotator cuff, I add straight-arm pullovers because they're the very best for hitting the long head of the triceps.
Keep in mind that the shoulder joints and rotator cuffs are more fragile than you might imagine. Include plenty of specific exercises in your program to keep them healthy and strong.
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