On Wed, 1 Oct 2003 21:11:12 -0500, "Julianne" <
[email protected]>
wrote:
>Question for you Mu, off topic.......
>
>
>I play a lot of tennis and have never had a rotator cuff problem but many
>fellow players have had injuries; some to the extent that permanently took
>them off the courts.
Played a lot of tennis between 1980-1992, saw those injuries myself.
>Because I don't get to play as often as I like, I am wondering how do I go
>about keeping my rotator cuff healthy? I have only had one serious sports
>related injury about 15 years ago and I do not want another. Is there
>anything I can do to lessen my odds?
Remember first, that your RC plays several roles. It seats the
humeral head into the shoulder socket (stability), it internally and
externally rotates your arm, it assists the lifting of your arm (elbow
at side to elbow parallel to shoulder. Except for the humeral
seating, the RC works in conjunction with the lats, pecs etc to
accomplish arm movement tasks.
http://physicaltherapy.about.com/library/weekly/aa103000a.htm
Now, to your answer.
The best way to strengthen a healthy RC is to lift weights in a proper
regimen. All those things I mentioned above are typical arm movements
in a well written weight program, aren't they?
As an alternative, or for extra work, you could use very light weights
performing three simple exercises (and I mean like 1/2 pound to start,
20 reps, should feel a burn right before you end a set).
http://familydoctor.org/handouts/265.html
Well, okay, they have four but Number Two is redundant, imo but can't
hurt to do it!
Number 3 can be done lying on your back with two weights at once,
crossing your stomach and returning to the floor, backs of the hand
touching the floor.
Tennis is a very high velocity joint action at the upper arm (humeral)
joint and fatigue (misfiring and lack of coordination that ensues) is
a common factor in RC injuries.
I used to believe that additional, PT type of RC work was necessary in
addition to a strength program, but, over the years, I had no
difference in velocities gained (performance) or rate of injuries
(prevention) with or without auxiliary RC programs.
Lift well, eat less, walk fast, live long.
Oooh, I like that!