Over the last three weeks we loosened your tight subscapularis, strengthened your infraspinatus muscles, and strengthened your supraspinatus muscles. Your rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles:
- Subscapularis
- Infraspinatus
- Supraspinatus and
- Teres Minor
So this week let’s finish it off by strengthening your Teres Minor.
Wait, wut? What the hell is a “teres minor?”
It’s one of the rotator cuff muscles, it lies on the back side of the shoulder, along the lower edge of the shoulder blade (scapula), and goes to the back side of the joint capsule. Its jobs are to
- aid in the stabilization of the rotator cuff,
- external rotation,
- transverse abduction (moving the arm out and away from the centre of the chest, elbows facing down)
- transverse extension (moving the arm out from the centre of the chest, in a horizontal plane, elbows facing out)
Since teres minor has three basic jobs, let’s do three basic exercises.
For External Rotation, begin by standing and holding a yoga ball in your right hand:
- raise your arm to shoulder height, straight out to the side
- raise your hand to vertical, palm forward (your elbow is now bent 90°)
- rotate your upper arm to lower your hand until your forearm is horizontal, maintaining the 90° bend in your elbow
- rotate your arm to return your forearm to vertical, maintaining the 90° bend in your elbow
- repeat for 8 – 12 reps, depending on your strength and the weight you use
I described this as a single side exercise. I prefer to do it bilaterally so I can concentrate on the exercise without concerning myself with balance. I may also use more weight than a 5 lb yoga ball.
For Transverse Abduction, begin by lying on your left side (support your head in with your left hand):
- extend your right arm straight out to the front, holding a yoga ball in your right hand, palm facing down
- raise your arm straight up, keeping your elbow straight
- lower back to the starting position
- repeat for 8 – 12 reps, depending on your strength and the weight you use
- switch to your other side
If you want to make this exercise a little more yoga like, do it in side plank, but be careful, the greater the weight you use, the greater the rotational forces that your support arm must resist.
For Transverse Extension, do dumbbell rows. Begin with your left hand and knee resting on a bench, back flat, right foot for support:
- hold a weight in your right hand
- squeeze your shoulder blades together, and push them down (away from your ears)
- lift the weight up to your ribs, slowly and with control, keeping your back flat
- lower the weight, slowly and with control, to its starting position
- repeat for 8 – 12 reps, depending on your strength and the weight you use
- switch to your other side
There are approximately 4 million variations of these exercises, variations that use greater weight, less weight, no weight, exercise bands, sitting, standing, lying down, and eccentric exercises to combine the exercises, etc. ad infinitum.
Though there are many more, here you have a place to start, simply.
