Reverse Flyes with shoulders
135 degrees of abduction
- Start this rotator cuff ball exercise by kneeling on the floor behind the ball. Stretch forward over the ball until your waist is over the top of the ball.
- Toes rest on the floor shoulder width apart.
- Chest is slightly raised.
- Hands rest lightly on the floor in front of you about shoulder width apart.
- Hold your shoulder blades down and back.
Action
- Raise your arms forward so that they are approximately 135 degrees to your trunk with your thumbs pointing up toward the ceiling.
- Hold for 2 seconds.
- Return to the starting position.
Prime Movers
- Middle deltoid, rotator cuff
Physio Tips
- Keep your neck straight, chin tucked and chest up to strengthen neck stabilizers.
- The ball should remain motionless throughout this exercise.
Progression
- Add 1-2 kg dumbbells.
- Add more air to your exercise ball to reduce stability and force your core stabilizing musculature to work harder.
- Move your feet closer together.
- Try doing this exercise with one foot off the ground to reduce the size of your base of support.
This exercise ball exercise biases the supraspinatus muscle, a muscle often neglected in lifters to their detriment later on. Body builders like to work on the deltoid muscle to round out their shoulders; however, creating muscle imbalances between the deltoid and supraspinatus can lead to impingement and ultimately to tendinitis, tendinosis, and tears. This is a significant muscle involved in shoulder stabilization so is important in most sports involving use of the upper extremities.
If you are a swimmer this is a very important exercise for you. For more exercises to include in your swimming dryland training program click here.
Other good open kinetic chain rotator cuff exercises are:
Reverse Flyes at 450
Reverse Flyes at 900
Repeat this ball exercise 6 times
Repeat this ball exercise 10 times
Repeat this ball exercise 15 times
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