GuiYoM

When I speak about external rotator, I'm talking about moving the bicep away from the body or backward. Althought many muscles are involved in theses activities, the two most improtant are the teres minor and the infraspinatus.

Theses muscles lie adjacent to one another, originate on the scapula and insert on the humerus and compromise two of the four muscle know as the rotator cuff.

From a biomechanical view, the teres minor and the infraspinatus help stabilize the shoulder and are therefor vital to protec this area from injurie. Beside injury prevention, theses muscle help with the posture, shoulder blade alignment.

Bodybuilding sports is about training the majors parts of the body, I would like to say majors parts again. I read alot of training journal here, many comments on shoulder pain, weak bench press, weak militaty press, weak front squat(if applicable).

People have the bad habbit to try to inscrease weight, or to go into a HIIT training routine. But that's another topic.

The following are the categorie of bodybuilder who should work external rotator.

Anybody who does alot of chest and back work
Almost every exercise you perform for the pecs and the back putt stress on the external rotators. so the guy who alway start their routine with the bench press is a first class candidate.

Bodybuilder striving for the ultimate back developpement
When the teres minor and the infraspinatus are fully developped, the contast between these muscles the lats is amazingly amplified.

When the bodybuilder hit the double back biceps pose, the deep etches between theses muscle are stunning and give the look of muscle built.

Individuals who want to increase their bench press
If the external rotator are weak, the prime mover of the upper-body will shut down when exposed to high level of tension. When I design program to improve bench press, the first area I emphasize is the external rotator. As far from the effectiveness, I have seen chin up and bench press increased by 15% in less than a month.

Individuals with rounded shoulders
Strenghting the external rotator will help improve the posture of the shoulder, thereby reducing stress on the skeleton. Often such poor posture is often the result of working long hours at the desk that isn't ergonomically designed.

Athletes in sport where lats or pecs are the prime mover.
After many years of training the bodies of these athletes adapt by shortening the lenght of the pectoral and latissimus dorsi major muscle groups.


Essential principles


-Exercise throught a full range of motion
If you shorten the range of motion, there's no point in doing external workout.
When using dumbell or pulley, put particular attention to the lowering the weight in the stretched position.

-Stretch the internal rotator between set
Between set stretch the pecs and the lats, by doing this you're increasing the range of motion and you will find that you won't fatigue as quickly in the following sets.

-Performe relative high set
At least 6 to 20 rep, the muscle have to be load for about 40 to 70 secondes maximun.

-Avoid high speed mouvement
External rotator respond best to slow to medium speed, have a constant speed.
Eccentric contraction: 5sec
Concentric contraction: 5sec

-Variety
If you never worked thoses muscle, the program would least about 10-12 weeks. Change exercise at 6weeks. After the specialisez phase, the majority of people need to do only one exercise per phase.

-Maintain correct head position
You should alway hold you're head in the natural position. To be sure you can raise the lower portin of the sternum

-Maintain correct wrist position
Keep the wrist positon in the natural position to help minimize the stress on the elbow.

-Apply gradual overload
The teres minor and the infraspaninatus are weak muscle. Use the smalles dumbell and inscrease. The best is to use Platemate.

-Work the non-dominant arm first
If you're non-dominant arm can do 10 reps, then do 10 reps with the dominant arm.


The most effective mouvement
;

1)External Rotation in low pulley while standing arm in low postion

From a standing position, grasp a single handle on a low pulley and turn it sideways. If your right hand is holding onto the handle, your left foot should be closest to the weight stack. (You'll be standing sideways.) The working arm should be abducted about 30� from the torso. With the elbow bent, rotate the working arm outward by pivoting only at the shoulder joint, and lower the weight by gently reversing the direction of the movement. Switch sides and repeat with the other arm.


2)External rotation with the ShoulderHorn.


The ShoulderHorn is interesting as it prevents any cheating when doing external rotator work, which is why I often prescribe this exercise to novices. The ShoulderHorn is available in four sizes, and it's important to use one that fits the width of your shoulders. It's possible to use either dumbbells or a low pulley with this device. A dumbbell provides a good overload in the stretched position (start), while a pulley permits an overload over a greater range of motion. The pulley version is more appropriate for the athlete who is especially weak in the contracted position


3)External rotation with a dumbbell, arm in front.

For this variation, you need support at the elbow, preferably on a padded surface an adjustable incline bench is ideal. The working elbow should be resting on an incline bench; the bench should be set so that your elbow rests on the upper ridge at armpit level. Stand with your elbow in front of you. The arm should be bent at a 90 angle, and the foot farthest from the working arm should be placed in front.

Make sure you start with a very light dumbbell; most men will need to start with a five-pound dumbbell. Lower the dumbbell in a rotary fashion using only the strength of the external rotators until the muscles are fully stretched. Start the concentric contraction in a smooth fashion; don't jerk the weight up or use body English to get it moving, and don't use the myotatic reflex to get the weight up (a fancy way to say, "don't bounce at the bottom position"). It's also important that at the end of the concentric contraction you don't go beyond the perpendicular position.

It's normal that in the stretched position, the working shoulder rolls up and in. However, don't allow the other shoulder to dip when you lower the dumbbell this would reduce the eccentric training effect on the working shoulder

4)External rotation with a low pulley, arm in front.

The setup is the same for the exercise described above, except there is no support of the elbow, and you must use a pulley as the means of resistance. This variation is more complicated, as you must control the movement by isometrically contracting the shoulder stabilizers. Pay particular attention to raising your sternum (sticking your chest out) because technique is often compromised by rounding the shoulders. This variation offers the advantage of providing resistance for a greater range of motion in the contracted position.


5)External rotation with a dumbbell, arm abducted.

For this one, you'll need to support your triceps on a Scott bench (a.k.a. preacher bench). The height of the support pad should be set so that the top of the elbow is set below the shoulder joint. As you lower the dumbbell during the eccentric contraction, make sure you achieve the greatest stretch and keep your wrist in a neutral position.


6)External rotation with a low pulley, arm abducted.

Sit in front of a low pulley and grab a single handle attached to the cable. Abduct the upper arm, keeping a 90� bend at the elbow, and lower the handle by pivoting only at the shoulder joint. Get a full stretch, and rotate the arm outward to come back to the original starting position. Concentrate on moving the hand back as far as possible to take advantage of the greater overload range provided by the lower pulley. This variation offers the advantage of providing greater resistance in the contracted position when the upper arm is abducted.


7)Cuban press.

The starting position for this exercise requires you to hold a barbell with a grip that is wider than shoulder width. Upright row the bar until it reaches the lower portion of your sternum. After pausing momentarily in this position, rotate the arms outward until the forearms are perpendicular to the ground. Then finish the movement by pressing the bar overhead. To complete the exercise, lower the bar in a pressing style until the upper arms are parallel to the floor, then lower it in a rotary fashion to the lower sternum and finally to the mid-thigh level.