External rotation of the shoulder

The shoulder joint is a very important part of the human body. The shoulder joint has a great impact on the human body. If there is a problem with the shoulder joint, it will make people's arms inflexible, and severe cases will cause problems with the entire upper limbs. Some people report that they have external rotation of the shoulder, which means that the shoulder joint is more prominent, so that the muscles in the shoulder area are unevenly stressed, resulting in muscle atrophy in some areas. So, what should we do if the shoulder joint is externally rotated?

The shoulder joint refers to the part where the upper limb connects to the torso, which includes a large part of the body such as the upper arm, armpit, chest area and back area where the shoulder blade is located. It is composed of the scapular glenoid cavity and the humeral head. It is a ball and socket joint and is the largest and most flexible joint in the upper limbs. The joint capsule is relatively loose and attached to the glenoid rim and anatomical neck. The synovial layer of the joint cavity bulges through the fibrous layer to form the subscapularis synovial bursa and the intertubercular synovial sheath that wraps the long head of the biceps brachii tendon.

Why External Rotation of Shoulder?

Due to the bad sitting posture of modern people, the shoulders of many people are in an internal rotation state, causing the muscles of shoulder external rotation to be stretched or weakened for a long time.

At the same time, many trainees do too many (push, shoulder adduction, shoulder internal rotation, shoulder flexion) movements, and too few (pull, shoulder abduction, shoulder external rotation, shoulder extension) movements! This leads to an imbalance in muscle strength!

Three shoulder external rotation exercises to help strengthen your rotator cuff muscles from different planes of motion!

Shoulder external rotation①

This is one of the most common movements we do! Do shoulder abduction training with your arms straight down!

Shoulder external rotation②

This movement is also called the Cuban rotation, which is a shoulder external rotation exercise with the shoulder abducted at 90 degrees!

Shoulder external rotation ③

The third movement changes the plane of motion and performs shoulder abduction training at 90 degrees of shoulder flexion!

sports:

Broadly speaking, shoulder joint movement includes the movement of the scapula and the glenohumeral joint.

(1) The movement of the scapula includes lifting, pulling down, internal rotation, external rotation, extension, and extension:

1. Lifting: Four muscles can lift the scapula. The upper fibers of the trapezius muscle can lift the outer angle of the scapula; the levator scapulae and the greater and lesser rhomboid muscles can lift the spinal edge of the scapula.

2. Pull-down: The pectoralis minor, subclavian, latissimus dorsi, lower fibers of the trapezius, serratus anterior, and pectoralis major are all involved in this movement. Only the serratus anterior has the function of externally rotating the inferior angle of the scapula, while the others have the function of internally rotating the scapula.

3. External rotation: refers to the external rotation of the lower angle of the scapula, which is completed by the trapezius and serratus anterior muscles.

4. Internal rotation: refers to the internal rotation of the lower angle of the scapula, which is mainly completed by the rhomboid muscles and levator scapulae lifting the inner edge of the scapula, while the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, latissimus dorsi and the gravity of the upper limbs cause the outer angle of the scapula to descend. Scapular internal rotation is often accompanied by scapular descent to assist in the downward extension of the upper limb.

5. Extension: refers to the movement of the scapula forward and outward along the chest wall, which is completed by the serratus anterior muscle, pectoralis major muscle, and pectoralis minor muscle.

6. Extension: refers to the movement of the shoulder blade posteriorly and medially along the chest wall, closer to the spine. The simultaneous contraction of the middle fibers or all the fibers of the trapezius muscle can extend the scapula. The rhomboid muscles, major and minor muscles, and the latissimus dorsi muscles also have the effect of extending the scapula.

(ii) The movements of the glenohumeral joint include flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, internal rotation, and external rotation:

1. Flexion: Shoulder flexion is mainly completed by the anterior fibers of the deltoid muscle, the clavicular part of the pectoralis major, the coracobrachialis muscle, and the biceps brachii, among which the anterior fibers of the deltoid muscle are the most obvious.

2. Extension: The muscles that extend the shoulder joint mainly include the posterior fibers of the deltoid muscle, the latissimus dorsi, the sternocostal part of the pectoralis major, the teres major and the long head of the triceps brachii, among which the posterior fibers of the deltoid muscle play the greatest role.

3. Adduction: The main muscles involved are the pectoralis major, teres major, latissimus dorsi, coracobrachialis, and long head of the biceps brachii. In addition, the anterior and posterior fibers of the deltoid muscle also have an adduction effect.

4. Abduction: The abduction of the shoulder joint is completed by the deltoid muscle (mainly its intermediate bundle) and the supraspinatus muscle. The outermost part of the deltoid is the primary muscle for abduction when the shoulder is in internal or external rotation, with the abduction muscles being stronger when the shoulder is externally rotated.

5. Internal rotation: The internal rotator is mainly the subscapularis. When the shoulder joint is in a specific position, the anterior fibers of the pectoralis major, the teres major and the latissimus dorsi also have a certain internal rotation effect.

6. External rotation: The external rotator muscles of the shoulder joint include the infraspinatus, teres minor and posterior fibers of the deltoid.