


Going wide will allow you to press more weight, but will add stress to your rotator cuff.Īnd stay on form throughout your entire set, too: "In my practice, the most common way people tear their rotator cuff while working out is when they do not pay attention to their form while trying to get one last rep in," says Dr. Just make sure that your form is on target-say, you’re keeping your elbows at an angle in front of your body instead of directly out to the sides when you’re pressing. Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do these lifts, of course. "For weightlifters, bench press and overhead (military) press are probably the most common culprits." "Although rotator cuff injuries can happen a number of different ways, they most commonly occur when trying to lift heavy weights overhead," says Dr. When it comes to avoiding rotator cuff injury when lifting, it's all about using the appropriate weight and form. That means for every set of exercises that targets your rotator cuff-say, a dumbbell external rotation-you should do one that targets your delts, like a front dumbbell raise. "Failure to do so may lead to imbalances around the shoulder that cause tendinitis from overuse of the rotator cuff.” "The rotator cuff and deltoid muscles are antagonists and should always be worked out in combination with each other," says Dr. You can prevent rotator cuff tendonitis by balancing your workout. Related: 5 Surprising Body Parts That Are Extremely Sensitive to Pain Plus, it’s usually worse at night, and you might not be able to lift your arms above your head or lift things away from your body. The pain is typically located on the outside of the shoulder," says Dr. "Symptoms that would point to a tear are severe pain and weakness. If you had an actual rotator cuff tear, your pain will be more severe. It often occurs due to overworking your delts at the gym, like with too many or too heavy rear delt flys or shoulder presses. Gulotta, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

In fact, the most common kind of injury to the rotator cuff in casual lifters is something called rotator cuff tendinitis, an inflammation or swelling of the tendons connecting your muscles and bones in your shoulder, says Lawrence V. But don’t jump to the assumption that you necessarily tore your rotator cuff, a severe injury that occurs when your tendon is actually ripped away from your bone.
