Whenever you talk about exercises for the rotator cuff or for preventing shoulder injuries the very first exercise people think of is the external rotation exercise using rubber tubing. How come nearly every shoulder problem needs external rotation work? Do they all have weak external rotators? Many physical therapists and trainers will say yes, and this will often be their “go-to” exercise for almost every shoulder injury they see. Their belief is that the external rotators are weak and over-powered by the larger internal rotator muscles of the pecs and lats and therefor they need to be strengthened. However, this type of logic ignores the true role of the rotator cuff and assumes so many critical factors that are often the reason behind the imbalance being created in the first place. In this article, I will discuss how these exercises often cause more problems than they solve and if you want to improve stability and function of the rotator cuff, you will find there are much better choices that will get you out of pain and back to full function.

The biggest change I made to my career as a trainer was changing my philosophy with exercise to be “movement focused” as opposed to strength or fitness focused. The reason I changed my entire way of thinking and programming with exercise was because it was not working. Sure, there were many clients who achieved great results from the muscle approach I was using but there were many people who never improved, and some who got worse! My desire to find out answers to the reason I was failing led me to the functional movement approach where many of the world’s leading practitioners were practicing these type of methods. At first it appears this approach is too aggressive or even risky, especially when dealing with injury and dysfunction, for the exercises seem too complex. However, once you understand many of these exercises are fundamental patterns we use in daily life, you appreciate how effective and absolutely necessary they are to teach people. For one thing is for certain, they are going to move with these patterns the minute they leave the gym anyway. If the only way they know how to move is dysfunctional, they will continue to create damage to their body for it knows no other way. The sooner you learn how to use a more efficient and effective way to move the better, and this will prevent weakness and pain taking over your body. I must state that it is not only injury prevention that is of importance with learning to move efficiently,  for strength, fitness, and sporting performance can never be truly achieved without these skills. Therefore, the rules of functional movement apply to all of us. The degree of difficulty will vary from person to person, but the fundamentals will always remain the same.

We all know that exercise is great for our body and staying in great shape can effectively help prevent the onset of deadly diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  Most people associate activities like running and cycling as the best way to improve fitness and heart health, while strength training is looked upon as the best method to improve muscle mass. What people fail to understand is that there are a multitude of health benefits with strength training that are far superior to endurance training, and that you can improve your cardiovascular fitness lifting weights. Anyone who says to me you cannot get fit lifting weights is not doing it right. While cardio is still good to use it works best in combination with strength training to maximise the health of the body. In this article I will show you why strength training is the preferred option and also how to do it correctly to improve your fitness at the same time.