The rotator cuff is a group of four small muscles that surround the shoulder joint. They function together to stabilize the shoulder and allow us, among other things, to raise our arms over our heads, or to move our shoulders backwards and forward, such as when we throw a ball.

Often ignored in workouts, the rotator cuff muscles are actually very important. Without them, we would not be able to move our shoulders properly. Our shoulder would pop out of position and limit our movements. As you can imagine, any problem in this area is likely to cause a lot of pain.

In order to understand rotator cuff anatomy, it helps to have an overall picture of what these muscles do for us. Think of an antenna tower or one of those big poles in a circus tent. In both cases you want it to stay perfectly upright and in place. An antenna tower is held in place by several high tension guy wires that pull out on the tower in all directions. If the wind blows the tower in one direction, the opposite cable pulls back, keeping the tower from swaying and falling over.

The rotator cuff muscles work in the same way, except that our shoulder and arm are in constant movement. As some of the muscles in our shoulder lift up, others have to pull down. As we rotate our shoulder forward, such as when throwing a ball, other muscles have to pull back to keep our arms from Read the rest of this entry »