How to Prevent a Rotator Cuff Injury

• Have you ever had trouble with your shoulder? If you haven't yet, you more than likely will within your lifetime. Anyone who does any kind of physical activity regularly like running or sports is at high risk for having a rotator cuff injury. The more activity you do, the more risk you have for this problem. You are still at risk even if you never shoot a basketball or workout.
• By regular daily activities, the rotator cuff gets stretched, pulled, and beaten. Over time, the wear and tear can limit your shoulders' range of motion and cause you chronic shoulder pain. It's okay though. Most of these injuries can be prevented by only a few minutes of work.
• When trying to prevent rotator cuff injury or rehabilitate an already injured one, three things need to be done. Strengthening the muscles around the rotator cuff reduces the risk of injury and restores function in an injured shoulder. Stretching the shoulder also helps decrease your risk of injury, but also increases range of motion. The right form must be used on some exercises to prevent cuff injury.
• Even if only 1 shoulder is injured, you should still work BOTH shoulders. By building strength in the healthy shoulder, you reduce the risk of an injury. We want to make sure you build balanced strength across the body. There is evidence of training a healthy muscle on one side of the body will positively affect the corresponding muscle on the other side.