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EricT · 12-09-2006, 11:42 AM

Are you talking about rotator stretches or exercises?

Never stretch like that before you lift. If you want to loosen the shoulders simply do shoulder rotations. You can do this gently and build up to a more dynamic movement.

The only time passive stretches can be done before lifting is if an overly tight antagonist is robbing range of motion from another muscle group. Sometimes this is due to overfiring of neurons resulting in excessive tone. So say you have an overtight pectoral and front deltoid region you might use passive stretches (i use "static" and "passive" interchangeably) to loosen the muscle and sort of "turn off" the neurons so that it doesn't rob range of motion and strength when you do rows.

You can gently stretch the rotators after you do any kind of lift involving the shoulders. But remember you are not working on increasing flexibility. Only on maintaining flexibility, assisting in recovery, and encouraging the muscles not to become tight.

If you are talking about rotator cuff exercises than DEFINITELY don't do them before doing incline presses! The rotators get worked basically everytime you involve your shoulders. They are very small and cannot take a lot. You do not want to pre-fatigue them. However, you can do rotator cuff strengthening after chest work. BUT, imo, it should be used in place of, not in addition to your shoulder routine. So you can either do a rotator cuff routine one day or your regular shoulder work, but not both. Keep in mind that you can develop a very good rotator routine that would also work the entire shoulder, but would not involve presses and stuff. It would be therapeutic, though, and not about setting records!