Cuban Press for the Strengthening of the Rotator Cuff The sole purpose of the implementing the cuban

press into someones training program is predominately to help strengthen the rotator cuff. Why this exercise is put into a program is based on how bad ones cuff level of weakness is. Evaluating the cuff can simply be done while assessing someone as they perform an overhead squat. If the arms fall forward, or finding that holding the arms up is too difficult then it is obvious that the cuff is weak and needs to be worked. For an individual in this case, they would need to execute this exercise to increase their strength and endurance. Although almost all movements require both a concentric and eccentric contraction; the cuban press primarily focuses on the eccentric part. The ability to control the weight, be it bodyweight or external load, is crucial to increasing the strength and endurance levels. Most importantly, this specifically targets the weakness in the external rotators while at the same time hitting the abduction abilities of the shoulders. With this movement being such a dynamic exercise, it is hard to say exactly what type of plane of movement is would fall under. The upright portion is shoulder flexion which is in the sagittal plane. External rotation of the shoulder would be classified as transverses. And the pressing part is once again flexion but in the frontal plane. Based on the goal, which is strengthening the external rotators more than anything, this exercise can be categorized under the transverses plane. Since this deficiency can occur at any time, there is no specific tissue healing phase. But if an injury caused this, it would be most beneficial to program this in the maturation phase to help get the strength levels up without too much interference from inflammation and other healing factors. Normally these types of exercises would not need to be performed for many reps and sets. That being said, a light weight is needed to perform three sets with ten-to-twelve reps: once this feels too easy, the reps can be set up to fifteen. For the best results, the exercise needs to be performed in a straight standing

position. Besides standing up straight, one would need to focus on only using the shoulder to do all the work. Avoiding upper trap recruitment is paramount. If one slouches and/or recruits the upper trap to help with the movement, they are doing it wrong. If the person cannot perform the exercise without compensating, a regression is needed. With a regression, one would execute the same movement pattern but on an incline bench. Once this is mastered, the person can complete the exercise in the standing position. With time and patience, this will strengthen and give endurance to the weak rotator cuffs.