Job description:Your delts help your arms move in a wide range of directions.
The training payoff:You’ll never have to wear shoulder pads if, heaven
forbid, they ever come back in style. Also, strengthening your shoulders can
help you avoid injuries such as shoulder dislocations or muscle tears. And
with strong shoulders, you have no trouble putting that useless “waist trim-
mer” gadget that you bought for $19.95 on the top shelf in the closet.
Special tips:We tend to like free weights better than machines for strength-
ening the shoulders. Although most shoulder-press machines have improv-
ed in recent years, many other shoulder contraptions, especially lateral-
raise machines, tend to be difficult to adjust and uncomfortable to use.
Also, machines aren’t made for every shoulder movement. For example,
no specific machine mimics the front shoulder raise. It’s important to target
the front, middle, and back of your shoulders, as well as the delts as a whole,
so make it a point to master several dumbbell exercises.
Our favorite exercises:Dumbbell shoulder press, dumbbell lateral raise,
dumbbell front raise, and dumbbell back delt fly
Rotator cuff ........................................................................................
Given name:Rotator cuff
Street name:Rotators
Whereabouts:Four small muscles beneath your shoulder (refer to Figure 12-3);
together, they’re called your rotator cuff.
Job description:Your rotator-cuff muscles hold your arm in its socket. You
use these muscles to rotate the shoulder joint, such as when throwing and
catching. Baseball pitchers are constantly sidelined with rotator-cuff injuries.
The training payoff:If you have weak rotators, you can damage them simply
by carrying a briefcase or reaching across the table for Rice Krispies Treats —
throwing a 90 mph fastball is not a prerequisite for injury (see Chapter 5). By
making a special effort to strengthen these commonly injured muscles, you’re
far less likely to tear or strain them.
Special tips:In addition to doing rotator-cuff exercises, work your shoulders
in a variety of directions. Your rotators are put into action whenever your
deltoids are working; if your delts are weak and you do a heavy upper-body
lift, you may do some serious rotator damage. If you have chronic shoulder
pain, check with your orthopedist to see if you’ve injured your rotator cuff.
Sometimes rotator tears can be corrected with exercise; other times, they
require surgery.
Chapter 12: Your Muscles: Love ’Em or Lose ’Em 175