Lying "L" Flyes:
The book "The 7-Minute
Rotator Cuff Solution" recommends this
exercise be
performed with very light weight.
If you are
rehabbing an injury, they recommend you
use 1 to 5
lbs. at most. If you are conditioning
to prevent
injury, they recommend using 5 to 15 lbs.
and never
exceed 20 lbs. The external rotators
are small
muscles and can be easily injured if you
try to move a
lot of weight with them.
Lying on your side on a flat bench, begin
with your
arm bent at 90 degrees at the elbow, your
upper arm
along your side and your forearm down
across your
chest.
Hold a very light dumbell in your hand
and
while maintaining the 90 degree angle
bend in your
elbow, slowly lift the weight. If
you are rehabbing
an injury, lift only until your forearm
is just above
parallel to the ground. If you are
not rehabbing an
injury, lift your arm as high as is comfortable.
If
you experience any discomfort in your
shoulder during
the exercise, try putting a small pillow
under your
elbow. It is important while doing
this exercise to
not raise your upper arm off your body
or let it slip
forward and down. You should keep
your arm at your
side at all times. Rolling back
while doing the
exercise is also a no, no. Keep
your body in the same
plane throughout the movement.
The Upright "L" Flye is a
more advanced exercise than the
Lying "L" Fly. The Lying "L" Fly
puts most stress at
the end of the movement whereas the Standing
"L" Fly
puts the most stress at the beginning.
Be sure to
have reached a moderate strength level
in the lying
version before using the upright version
and if you
are rehabbing an injury, the upright version
should
not be used in the beginning stages.
Holding a light dumbell (1 to 20 lbs.),
rest your
tricep on a support. Ideally, the
support should be
just below armpit height. Maintaining
a right angle
bend at your elbow, lower the dumbell
or cable handle
until your forearm is at or just below
parallel to the
floor.
Slowly raise the weight back to the starting
position. Do not jerk as you move
from the down to up
position as this will put a great deal
of stress on
the external rotators. The authors
of the book "The
7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution" believe
you shouldn't
continue to increase the level of resistance
on this
exercise as you get stronger. They
recommend that no
more than 20 lbs. be used regardless of
strength
levels.
