The 5 Worst Exercises for Your Rotator Cuff and 5 to Do Instead

Strengthening your rotator cuffs — the four muscles (and countess tissues) that surround the shoulder blades and help to stabilize them — is essential for maintaining overall shoulder health. But doing certain exercises might actually be doing more harm than good, especially if you lack adequate shoulder mobility and strength. (Which, let's face it, most of us are a little restricted.)

This can lead to tearing or fraying of the rotator cuff muscles and restrict the range of motion in your arms. In other cases, it can result in serious injury, including shoulder impingement and bursitis, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

That said, here are five worst exercises for your rotator cuff and five swaps to keep your shoulders safe and healthy.

Triceps dips can be problematic because of the pressure they place on your shoulder joint. While dips strengthen your triceps and shoulders, they can injure your rotator cuff if you lack shoulder extension mobility, says Grayson Wickham PT, DPT, CSCS, founder of Movement Vault .

"When your shoulder extension mobility is lacking, meaning you have tight shoulders with extension, your shoulder joint will compensate," he explains. "This compensation takes the form of your shoulders having to round excessively forward, which puts extra strain on your ligaments and labrum in the front of your shoulder. Over time, this can lead to ligament, tendon and labrum injuries and pain."

Skull crushers, aka lying triceps extension, isolate your triceps without putting stress on your shoulder ligaments or rotator cuff tendons.

The lat pulldown strengthens your latissimus dorsi — the large muscles that run down the sides of your back. But pulling the bar behind your neck places your shoulder in an externally rotated and abducted position, which places stress on the weakest part of your joint capsule.

This can result in joint laxity (hypermobility), which can be detrimental especially to throwing athletes who need to have a stable shoulder joint. In addition, it places your neck in a forward position, which strains your cervical spine.

"Having limited shoulder mobility and performing this exercise can lead to poor form and cause compensation in your shoulders, which can lead to shoulder joint wear-and-tear, pain and injury," Wickham says.

A front lat pulldown is a safer position for your shoulder joint and protects your cervical spine while strengthening your lats.

An upright shoulder row causes your shoulders to internally rotate as you pull a weight up toward them. This motion can put you at risk for shoulder impingement, causing the acromion (the bone on top of your shoulder) to rub against your rotator cuff tendons.

In addition, Wickham says that many people compensate while doing this exercise by rounding the shoulders forward. "Over time, this can lead to wear and tear on your shoulder ligaments and labrum, typically leading to a repetitive shoulder injury and pain down the line."

The seated dumbbell shoulder press is a much safer and better way to work your shoulders, as well as your chest muscles, without risking impingement.

"The only difference with the behind-the-neck shoulder press versus the behind-the-neck lat pulldown is that you push the weight versus pull it," Wickham explains. This type of exercise works your deltoids, along with your traps (upper back muscles), triceps and serratus anterior (fan-shaped muscles that attach to your ribs and front of shoulder blades).

The behind-the-neck shoulder press makes our list of the best exercises for rotator cuff health because it puts your shoulder in the same vulnerable position as the behind-the-neck lat pulldown and can injure your tissues.

"Behind-the-neck shoulder presses require very good shoulder mobility, similar to the behind-the-neck lat pulldown," Wickham says. "If you don't have adequate mobility, you can be setting yourself up for a potential repetitive wear-and-tear injury."

The standing military press allows you to strengthen your shoulder muscles without putting undue stress on the joint and rotator cuff. With this exercise, you press the bar up and lower it in front of your head, instead of behind your head.

Working your arms and shoulders, battle ropes are a great way to combine cardio and strength training. Unfortunately, they can also set you up for a potential rotator cuff injury ​if​ you don't have adequate shoulder stability.

"Battle rope exercises specifically require shoulder blade stability," Wickham explains. "When performing battle rope exercises, you are typically moving your arms very fast in an explosive manner. But if you lack shoulder blade stability, your shoulder joint can potentially wind up in a suboptimal position while performing the explosive arm movements. Over time this can cause repetitive pain and injury to your shoulder joints."

The farmer's walk is a total-body exercise that gets your heart rate up, but it doesn't include the explosive arm movements that can potentially cause shoulder injury. This simple exercise involves walking with a heavy set of weights for a specified amount of time or distance. It targets your lower body, core, shoulders — including your rotator cuff muscles and deltoids — biceps, triceps, forearms and grip.