Rotator Cuff pain is pretty common if your train on a consistent basis. If you are changing out your workout periododically then your training your shoulders twice a week. Advanced training suggests that you use different excercises for each shoulder work out. Some of the staple movements are the Shoulder Press either seated or standing either free weight or machine. Front raises - seated or standing, Lateral raises - seated or standing, Standing close grip front raises, Bent over lateral raises - seated or standing. The there are weighted shoulder shrugs with free weight or machine.

The shoulder is compromised of three muscles, front, side and rear. I see athletes in the gym on a daily basis training shoulders the wrong way. Understand that the shoulder muscles are small muscles and while they do respond to resistance training, they respond the most to basic movement training. What do I mean by that? I mean that the most basic movement with good proper resistance is the key to getting them to respond.

You can easily over train your shoulders buy first loading up with too much weight or un-natural movements. The biggest mistake training mistake I see in the gym in training shoulders is rotating the shoulder in a circular motion from front to back. Even though the shoulder can move in that way, when you add resistance to that movement, you put strain on the rotator cuff. You strain the ligaments and cause them to wear done causing pain in the shoulder. You may not notice it at first but consistant training in this manner will lead to injury in the ligaments, bone and/or muscle. Injuries to the shoulder could lead to injections of cortizon or even surgery. In any event your should training is set back along with your hard work to that point.

Bottom line is to stick to basic movements when training your shoulders. Up and Down, Up and Down in a strait line with any of the excercises. Keep you movements slow and controlled, using proper form. Dont forget to keep your thumbs out of it meaning all fingers should be on one side of the bar and palm on the other side.

Once you start to feel the slighest pain in your shoulder, STOP training them and layoff training for a time till they start to feel better, easing your way back to training them being very careful, sticking to basic movements and evaluating any pain you start to feel. Below is a link to getting rid of pain in your shoulders without having to get injections or having to have surgery. Get it read it and be well.