Noe Espinosa | | Noe Espinosa completed his personal training instructor certification through WITS (World Instructor Training Schools). Through his company, go2max Fitness, Noe specializes in helping clients achieve muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, weight loss and weight gain. He believes that is very important to educate, encourage, and motivate his clients to help them improve their lifestyle through fitness. Noe trains at 12th Street Gym.

Some gym goers get too crazy strengthening major muscles group and ignoring the small ones, such as the shoulder joint muscles. The shoulder joint (rotator cuff) is a group of four small muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis), which help to stabilize the shoulder and its unique anatomy (ball and socket joint) allows a great range of motion.

A shoulder injury occurs when the joint is overworked or doing a workout with a poor form. For example if you have experienced shoulder pain while bench-pressing, it could be results of a weak rotator cuff. A weak shoulder joint can lead to an injury that will prevent from hitting the gym for a couple months and when is a major injury, surgical treatment is required.

There are few exercises that can strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. These muscle are too small so be careful not to use much weight or overwork them doing many repetitions, the point is strengthen them to prevent the injury. If pain is severe, I recommend stopping the workout. Schedule a doctor examination and/or see a physical therapist.

Remember that is very important to warm up before starting any exercise, so get on the treadmill for 10 to 15 minutes, or do some dynamic stretching. Now, here are three exercises that will help you to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Add this exercise to your shoulder workout routine and you will see improvement in your bench press and will be free of pain.

Cable External Rotation.

Position the cable above waist level and at same height of your elbow. Grab the end of a cable handle and walk a few feet away until you feel some resistance, bend your elbow, keep it close to your side, slowly rotate your arm externally without raising and moving your arm away from your side. Do 2 to 3 sets of lightweight with 10 to 12 reps.

Cable Internal Rotation

Grab the cable handle and the same level of your belly button and your arm on the same side of the cable, walk a few feet away until your feel some resistance. With your elbow bent slowly internally rotate your arm until you touch your stomach. Do 2 to 3 sets of lightweight with 10 to 12 reps.

Standing Dumbbell External Rotations

Grab a light dumbbell with each arm, stand with feet shoulder width apart. Bent your arm 90 degrees and keep your elbows tucked to your side, rotate your arm as far you can hold it and return to the started position.

These exercises will add some strength to your shoulder and it will help to prevent futures injuries. Not all exercises are suitable for everybody, look for professional advice.

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