Lifting your arms allow you to perform daily functional activities along with weightlifting workouts. Stretching your arms overhead is performed by a combination of muscle groups acting together.
Muscle Groups
The major muscle groups involved in stretching your arms over your head are the deltoid, rotator cuff and triceps. The deltoid muscle, or shoulder, is located on top of the arm where it connects to the torso and is split into three parts: anterior, middle and posterior. The rotator cuff is made up of four small muscles: supraspinatus, teres minor, infraspinatus and subscapularis -- located on the back of the shoulder blade. The triceps is located on the back of the upper arm.
Movements
The collection of muscle groups work together so you can move the arms over head. The movements for stretching the arms over head include shoulder flexion and extension. During these movements, the rotator cuff stabilizes the shoulder joint. Shoulder flexion is the action of lifting the arm forward while extension is lifting the arm up backward. Once the shoulder is extended, elbow extension pushes the arm higher.
Injuries
The natural anatomy of the shoulder joint makes it susceptible to various injuries from overhead activities. For example, the repetitive arm motions by baseball or volleyball players may lead to shoulder or rotator cuff injuries. Common shoulder injuries from overhead movements include a dislocated shoulder, tendinitis, subluxation, impingement syndrome, joint sprain or frozen shoulder.
Training
Proper training can improve your overhead movements along with preventing injuries. The exercises performed should focus on the deltoids, triceps and rotator cuff muscles. Sample compound functional exercises include pullups, pushups, bench press and shoulder press. You can also use dumbbells for a seated dumbbell press, lateral raises or front raises.
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