Exercises to Strengthen Your Rotator Cuff Muscles (2024)

If you have pain or stiffness in your shoulder or rotator cuff, at-home shoulder-strengthening exercises may help. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint made up of different bones, muscles, and tendons that allow your arm to move in different directions.

The rotator cuff muscles stabilize the shoulder and control the arm, but they are prone to inflammation, tears, and repetitive stress injuries. Strengthening these muscles can help prevent shoulder injuries. Your healthcare provider may also suggest exercises to help you heal after an injury or surgery.

This article discusses shoulder-strengthening exercises. It explains shoulder anatomy and common causes of pain. It also provides step-by-step instructions for seven exercises that target the rotator cuff.

Strengthening Your Shoulders

Your rotator cuff consists of a group of four muscles. They perform several functions, including:

• Helping to lift your arm away from your body
• Rotating your arm in its socket
• Stabilizing your shoulder during overhead motions

Generally, these muscles act as dynamic stabilizers while you are lifting your arms up and away from your body.

Rotator cuff pain, weakness, or stiffness is common in young athletes and middle-aged adults.

Sports that require moving your arms over your head, like swimming, baseball, or tennis, and occupations that require repetitive overhead motions, such as hanging wallpaper, construction, or painting, increase your risk of rotator cuff injuries and shoulder pain.

Common shoulder problems include:

• Rotator cuff tears
• Shoulder tendonitis
• Biceps tendonitis
• Shoulder bursitis
• Impingement syndrome
• Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder)
• Osteoarthritis

These problems can limit your range of motion and keep your upper body from functioning as it should. Working to keep your rotator cuff muscles strong may help you avoid these problems.

Stronger rotator cuff muscles are better at supporting your shoulder joint and are less likely to become injured. When you regularly stretch these muscles, they also become more flexible. Flexibility improves your range of motion, which can also help prevent injury.

Prone Bent-Arm External Rotations

• Lie on your stomach on a table or a bed.
• Put one arm out at shoulder level with your elbow bent to 90 degrees and your hand down.
• Keeping your elbow bent, rotate your shoulder so that the back of your hand raises up towards the ceiling.
• Lower the hand slowly.
• Repeat 10 times.
• Perform with opposite arm.

Side-Lying External Rotations

• Lie on your side on a bed or the floor.
• Place your upper arm at your side with your elbow bent to 90 degrees, and your forearm resting against your chest, palm down.
• Rotate your shoulder out and raise your forearm until it is level with your shoulder.
• Lower the hand slowly.
• Repeat 10 times.
• Perform with opposite arm.

Emptying Cans

• Stand with your arms slightly behind you with both thumbs down.
• Raise your arms up, pretending that you are emptying a can with each hand.
• Lower the arms slowly.
• Repeat 10 times.

Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch

• Cross your right arm over your torso so your hand is pointing left.
• Bend your left arm and hook it over your right arm.
• Gently pull the right arm towards your body.
• Hold for 20 seconds, then switch arms.
• Repeat four times.

Child's Pose

• Begin on the floor in a kneeling position, keeping your knees apart and your back straight.
• Reach up with your arms towards the sky.
• Slowly bend forward until your chest touches your thighs.
• Keep reaching with your arms until your elbows and palms are flat on the floor.
• Hold for one minute, then slowly return to the starting position.

Doorway Stretch

• Stand in a doorway and reach out to either side of your body about shoulder height.
• Press each hand against the door frame.
• Slowly shift your weight forward, keeping your back straight.
• Slowly shift your weight backward, keeping your back straight.
• Repeat 10 times.

Pendulum

• Place one hand on a level surface such as a table and let your other hand hang at your side.
• Lean forward and gently let your free hand swing forward and backward.
• Repeat with a side-to-side motion.
• Repeat with a circular motion.
• Return to your starting position and repeat with your other arm.
• Repeat two times on each side.

Increasing Intensity

You can make any of these shoulder-strengthening exercises more challenging by adding weights.

Start light—usually, a 2 or 3-pound dumbbell is enough to create resistance. You can also add resistance by performing shoulder exercises with a resistance band.

Summary

Shoulder exercises can help your rotator cuff muscles become stronger and more flexible. This can help prevent injury and improve problems like rotator cuff tears and shoulder bursitis.

It's always best to begin an exercise routine slowly with easy exercises. As time goes on, you can add weight to increase the intensity.

By Laura Inverarity, DO
Laura Inverarity, PT, DO, is a current board-certified anesthesiologist and former physical therapist.