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SHOULDER
INTERNAL ROTATION - CABLE
CORRECT FORM
1) Stand with your side
to the cable weight machine. Grasp the pulley handle with the arm
that is closest to the machine. Your elbow should be bent to 90 degrees.
2) Begin by turning
the shoulder inward in a rotational fashion.
3) Continue rotating the shoulder internally until your hand touches
your abdomen. Be sure to maintain the elbow at a 90 degree angle.
It is a very common error to let the elbow flex/bend. Also, make
sure that your arm stays at your side and does not translate forward
and come across your body. You should feel the tension and burning
almost under the anterior shoulder where the subscapularis muscle
resides.
4) Return to the starting position slowly and under control.
5) Inhale as you return, exhale as you pull the cable.
MUSCLES
USED
SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
The primary purpose of the
cable shoulder internal rotation exercise is to train an area of the
body that is naturally very weak and often neglected - the anterior
rotator cuff. This area is even more neglected by people because
of the myth that this area is already overworked by bench presses,
flys, lat pulldowns, etc. This couldn't BE more false.
It takes some knowledge
of anatomy and kinesiology, but you will find that those muscles pull
from an entirely different area and rotate the arm in an entirely
different way. The pec and lat muscles pull the humerus (upper arm)
forward translating it anteriorly in the socket, whereas the rotator
cuff muscles simply rotate the humerus around an axis. This is because
of where they are attached on the bone.(1)
| Shoulder Joint - Top
View |
| Pec
and lats pulling the humerus forward |
Subscapularis
rotating the humerus on an axis |
At high velocities
(i.e. throwing), the subscapularis muscle is the ONLY muscle which
prevents your humerus bone from popping forward out of the socket
during the follow-through. When the arm is wrenched forward, it
is the subscapularis which stabilizes the shoulder. As the pecs
and lats tighten over time with weight-training, they will pull the
shoulder forward, making the shoulder more predisposed to an anterior
dislocation.
Training the subscapularis muscle is your defense against this.
Remember to make sure you perform this exercise only at the end
of a workout. The purpose of the rotator cuff muscles is to stabilize
the shoulder while you perform larger movements with the arm. These
are small muscles and the last thing you need is to have them fatigued
when you are performing heavy exercises.
EFFECTIVENESS
Performing internal rotation
exercises for the shoulder with a cable is a much more effective way
of training as compared to using a dumbbell. It allows you to train
with more tension at the the end-range of the movement (when your
arm is close into the body). This exercise is important in preventing
rotator cuff strain during ballistic or weightlifting activities.
Too often this area is over-looked and undertrained.
HELPFUL
WITH TRAINING FOR
Football, Basketball,
Baseball, Hockey, Track and Field, Throwing sports, Tennis/all racquet
sports, Boxing, Wrestling, Martial arts.
REFERENCES
1. Harryman
DT, Sidles JA, Clark JM et al: Translation of the humeral head on
the glenoid with passive glenohumeral motion. J Bone Joint Surg 1990
72(9):1334-43. |
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