About a year ago I sustained a injury to my rotator cuffs. In HIE you wrote that you had the same injury. What specially designed exercises did you do to overcome this.
It might be a little while before I get my rotator cuff info up on Ask Rob. In the meantime, you can
search for websites depicting these exercises. There's only so many directions in which
shoulders rotate (in-out/up-down) so you'll find a lot of duplication in the exercises. The key is to
cover the four main rotation directions. Popular information on proper performance of rotator cuff
exercises tends to be accurate because, once again, there’s only four rotational directions. The
most important thing, which so may people overlook and which I emphasize in HIE, is to train the
rotator cuff (which the vast majority of bodybuilders don’t). Whether using cables or dumbbells,
lying on a bench or standing, do four exercises: one in which 1) the hand moves across the body
2) away from the body 3) downward 4) upward. The key is to try to restrict movement to the
shoulder joint as much as possible, engaging as few other muscles as possible (this invariably
means very light weight).
My brother and I just started the complete NHE program, lifestyle, eating and exercises. We are experienced
with weightlifting and started the intermediate program. Is it true that the only exercise for shoulders is the lateral
raise in the intermediate program? And is that sufficient to obtain great round shoulders like yours? Because the
shoulder exists from 2 heads and I needed more different exercises in the past.
Yes, I believe that lateral raises along with rotator cuff exercises are sufficient (you’re basically exchanging
unnecessary and potentially counterproductive overdone deltoid isolation exercises for rotator cuff exercises,
while keeping the lateral raise which is a mainstay of every bodybuilder's shoulder routine).
Here’s the logic: you need lateral raises to work the medial head which functions in arm abduction. The
posterior and anterior heads of the deltoid are getting blitzed already when you work the larger muscles of the
torso. Specifically, each time you “pull” you work the posterior head; each time you “push” you work the anterior
head. Therefore, add lateral raises and you can achieve evenly developed deltoids in proportion with the other
larger muscles of the upper body. You also avoid overworking the relatively delicate shoulder, to avoid the
disabling overuse injuries that have derailed many bodybuilding careers.
