Climbing Injury Prevention – Rotator Cuff Strain

Cause

The shoulder is made up of four rotator cuff muscles. These muscles connect the shoulder blade to the arm bone. The rotator cuff muscles act together as a unit to control shoulder motion. The rotator cuff is weaker than the large muscles that attach the shoulder blade bone to the spine. When you climb with poor posture and pull excessively with your arms instead of climbing with your shoulder blades engaged, you increase the strain on the rotator cuff muscles.

Instructions

Kneel down and press your hands or fists into the ground. Wrap a single resistance band around your wrists. Imagine there is a clock in front of you with 12 o’clock at the top and 6 o’clock at the bottom. Press your wrists outwards on the band towards the positions on a clock. The right hand reaches to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 o’clock while the left hand reaches to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 o’clock. A few examples are listed below. A. Right hand reaches to 2 o’clock. B. Left hand reaches to 10 o’clock. C. Right hand reaches to 1 o’clock.

What It Does

Strengthens your rotator cuff muscles as a unit and is a progression in difficulty from air clocks. Challenge yourself by performing wall clocks on the rock wall.