Direct rotator cuff work?
 

I just have a few questions regarding the rotator cuffs

How highly do you recommend direct rotator cuff exercises?

Which exercises are the best for strong rotator cuffs?

Which exercises can be the worst for the rotator cuffs?

Do you believe that pull ups and chin ups put the rotator cuffs under a lot of stress?

Thanks for any feedback

I have experimented with direct RC both before benching and after. Before I found that I actually fatigued the muscles and made myself less stable. Afterwards I found I half assed the exercises so stopped doing them. I now do a little RC work as part of my warm-up on pressing days. Something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCp-YynBEvE

Or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lnqtibxboo

If I'm feeling particularly beaten up I will do some of this in my prehab sessions at home which are done on rest days.

LtL

Oh and no I don't believe pull ups or chin ups stress the RC. In fact I would say they help my shoulders feel more mobile and healthy. I like to make sure my shoulders get trained in all directions so that they aren't overloaded by all of my benching.

LtL

I don't see the point and would never do them.

A balanced routine of equal amounts of pressing and pulling is the kind of action that I dig.

I went through a time where i did rotator cuff work in every possible direction on the cables. Took me a good 5-10 minutes but i got good results. Then i discovered that i could do shoulder dislocations or dc stretches with my mini band for 20 reps and get just as good of rotator warmup. Now it takes me 30 seconds and i'm ready...

I don't usually do any direct exercises for the rotator cuffs. Like the others said, make sure your shoulder work is balanced to begin with. But if they start to feel a little beat-up I'll throw in some work for them at the end of my workouts until they start to feel better again. I'll usually just do some type of L-fly movement.

Same here!

1. I think they are smart to add in. As you get older you will see why.

2. Depends on where your imbalances are?

3. See above.

4. I prefer my puuls up / chin ups with close or neutral grip. Wide grip tends to aggravate my ****ed up shoulders.

A lot of shoulder issues can be addressed with proper mobility and range of motion. Eric Cressey is the man when it comes to this.

Yes.
Not all r/c injuries are a result of "Imbalance" ,so now I must include them.