Need ideas for rotator cuff rehab and str building exercises
Every other month or so I manage to futz up my left shoulder just a little bit more. It quiets down and the pain goes away, but inevitably comes back. I recently (ie yesterday) made the mistake of pressing on with a heavy chest/shoulder/tricep day yesterday after tweaking something doing routine sets of pullups the day before. On top of crickitty snap-crackle-pops with circular shoulder stretching exercises (from within the capsule itself) - I'm pretty sure that the most recent damage was excessive wear/strain on my little SITS rotator cuff muscles. Nothing tore, but damn if it doesn't hurt like a b^tch today.
I know the supraspinatus is involved ... pain gets worse lifting the arm beyond 90, and I have a feeling the teres minor is involved (what a managed to screw up with on my pullups) ... I'm unsure about the other 2. The problem always gets worse as I trailblaze into new territory in terms of weight lifted on the flat bench and weight dipped with routine exercise. The first time it flared was ago when I cracked into the low 200s on the flat bench. I've managed to perfect my benching/dipping form, which has helped things a lot, but I still end up having to take time off every couple of months to wait for these to recover.
So for you guys who bench/dip heavy relative to your frame, are there any specific rotator cuff exercises you do to help strengthen these?
What do you find the best?
Do any of you have any special stretching techniques (other than the stock ones any can google)?
I added fish oil a few months ago which also helped, toying with the idea of adding glucosamine/chon ... any other supplements others have tried and found successful?
Basically I'm trying to find some other people have have experienced this problem and pick their brains on what they've found helpful.
Thanks in advance guys ... will +rep useful replies.