Rotator cuff & shoulder warm ups and strength drills for weightlifting, snatch, clean & jerk

Warm up and strength drills for the rotator cuff muscles before weightlifting - www.mobilityforweightlifting.com/rotator-cuffshoulder-warm-up/ The rotator cuff muscles are a group of small muscles around the shoulder and scapula that work to stabilize the head of the humerus in the shoulder joint. If you have been around gyms or exercise for a while you will no doubt have heard about people 'impinging' or tearing their rotator cuff muscles. What Is the Rotator Cuff? What Do The Rotator Cuff do? The rotator cuff muscles are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor. The function of the rotator cuff is primarily stabilisation of the shoulder joint. From Wikipedia... The rotator cuff muscles are important in shoulder movements and in maintaining glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) stability.[2] These muscles arise from the scapula and connect to the head of the humerus, forming a cuff at the shoulder joint. They hold the head of the humerus in the small and shallow glenoid fossa of the scapula. The glenohumeral joint has been analogously described as a golf ball (head of the humerus) sitting on a golf tee (glenoid fossa) How To Train The Rotator Cuff? The rotator cuff is primarily REACTIVE in nature. This means they react to movement to create dynamic stability at the shoulder joint. Training heavy dumbbell and cable external rotations will be ineffective at creating proper function and optimum joint stability. These are not muscles that need to be big and strong. (Regardless of that, a snatch is the HEAVIEST, MOST AGGRESSIVE external rotation movement I can think of anyway) Instead they need to fire properly, at the right times and in the right order. In the video below I show you drills to create stability throughout the shoulder joint in the Olympic lifts (and any other weight training exercise). I use these drills to warm up before lifting. 10 reps of each movement - If this is an area you need to develop better co-ordination and control, do 2-3 sets daily, using deliberate and controlled movements. Don't let the band twang and release tension under control to work the muscles. You will probably find this very shaky and quite difficult at first. Embrace the instability - that is how you train these muscles! I have seen people dislocate their shoulder whilst lifting, and it isn't pretty. Make sure your rotator cuff muscles are warmed up and working properly. P.S. I like the Iron Woody bands 20inch red bands for these drills which you can buy here: http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/equip... Full post at www.mobilityforweightlifting.com/rotator-cuffshoulder-warm-up/