The BEST Exercises for the Rotator Cuff (Based on Science)

We all know those classic exercises for the rotator cuff. But are they really that effective, or are you wasting your time? I’ll show you the best exercises for the rotator cuff based on the latest scientific evidence.

We’ll focus on three main points here:

1. Anatomy & Function of the Rotator Cuff
2. The best exercises
3. Creating an exercise program (+ 2 sample sessions)

By the end of the article, you will have everything you need to strengthen your rotator cuff. And the sample sessions will help you get started immediately.

Anatomy & Function

You should understand this. Otherwise, it’ll be very difficult to find the appropriate exercises. So the rotator cuff consists of four muscles that connect the arm to the shoulder blade.

On the back of the shoulder blade, we have three of these muscles:

1. Supraspinatus
2. Infraspinatus
3. Teres minor

The last muscle sits between the shoulder blade and rib cage.

4. Subscapularis

In the past, people thought these muscles only served to stabilize the shoulder.

Yet, thanks to studies like those by Boettcher et al. (2010) and Escamilla et al. (2009), we now know that these muscles also play a big role in actively moving the arm.

The main functions of the muscles are:

• Subscapularis = shoulder internal rotation
• Infraspinatus & Teres Minor = shoulder external rotation
• Supraspinatus = shoulder abduction + support for shoulder external rotation

But that doesn’t mean they’re only activated and trained during these specific movements. I’ll explain more about that when we look at the exercises.

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Exercises For the Rotator Cuff

Hik & Ackland (2019) looked at the lever arms of the shoulder muscles. This way they could figure out how to train each muscle most effectively

The infraspinatus and teres minor are best trained with external rotation exercises.

We hit the supraspinatus best with abduction and flexion exercises. Basically when you move your arm to the side or front.

We train the subscapularis best with internal rotation movements.

You might be thinking, “Wow, that’s nothing new. You’re just listing the muscle functions.”

That’s true! The bigger question now is: what exercises work best for each of those movements?

I’ll give you an example.

I constantly see people at the gym doing standing external rotations with dumbbells. While this is an external rotation movement, this doesn’t train the rotator cuff.

Why? The force of gravity is pulling the dumbbell DOWN. That means there is no resistance into external rotation. The only thing that exercise strengthens is the biceps (if anything at all).

Let’s take a look at which exercises are particularly good for each muscle. Studies like those by Reinold et al. (2004) and Fukunaga et al. (2021) can help us here.

For the infraspinatus and teres minor, side-lying external rotation is very effective.

Instead, you could also do an external rotation on the cable machine.

For the supraspinatus, doing a YTW on your stomach leads to excellent activation. Especially the Y is super effective. The second best was the W.

You can also do an external rotation on a cable machine with your arm raised to shoulder height.

Now we only have the subscapularis left. Based on Hik & Ackland’s study, we can say that internal rotation exercises are very suitable.

You can do an internal rotation lying on your side with a dumbbell.

A standing internal rotation on a cable machine works great as well.

As mentioned, the rotator cuff isn’t only trained during those specific movements.

I want to make you aware of one important fact. Your regular upper body strength exercises train the rotator cuff too. Very effectively even.

Here’s a graphic from Escamilla et al. (2009).

Let’s take the supraspinatus as an example. Compare the abduction above 120° with shoulder external rotation with the military press.

You would assume, that the specific exercise leads to greater muscle activation, right? Well. The military press significantly outperformed the specific rotator cuff exercise.

In the end, it comes down to deciding what’s necessary for you.

Let’s assume you had a rotator cuff tear. In that case, specifically training the affected tendon can definitely be beneficial. It allows you to adjust the load on the rotator cuff in small steps.

But at the same time:

• if you are short on time (like most people are)
• and don’t have any issues with your shoulder

I wouldn’t worry about specific training of the rotator cuff.

By the way, if your pain isn’t getting better, click on this link to get more information about our pain coaching. My team and I might be able to help you.

Now let’s move on to creating a program out of the mentioned exercises.

Creating a Program

Have you decided that specific training for your rotator cuff makes sense? Then you might be wondering how often you should do these exercises.

I’d recommend picking 1-2 exercises and doing them for 3 sets of 12-15 reps. With these sample rehab sessions, you can get started right away.

If you’re currently dealing with shoulder pain, start with a low weight. Yet as your symptoms improve, try to get closer to muscle failure. This way you can effectively increase the strength and size of the muscle.

Feel free to add those exercises to your current upper-body workouts. Make sure you do the exercises 1-2x per week.

That’s all you need to worry about for now.

To avoid huge pain flare-ups in your rehab, you can download my free pain e-book over here.

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And if your shoulder doesn’t feel as stable as you’d like, then check out this article for help.

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