Everyone on my dads side of the family has been plagued with bad rotator cuffs. My dad has torn both of his and one of them he had repaired and tore it again. He has this rubber band thing to do exercises that are supposed to make it stronger. As I am getting into weight lifting I am noticing my shoulder is also weak. My first question is if a bad rotator cuff will hinder my bench press? I did chest today with my friend and I could barely do 135 and it felt more like my shoulder was lacking rather than my chest. If there anytihng in addition to the rotator cuff work outs I should be doing to help be sure that this does not hinder my progress? :mad:

Is it possible that ones bench could be lower by lack of strength in the arms rather than the chest?

On a happier note I have gained about 10 lbs in the past few weeks and the weight I use in various exercises seems to go up everytime I go to the gym.

The only thing I can say is BE CAREFUL! Your main focus should be strengthening your shoulders and the muscles around your rotator cuff. If you push too hard or try to increase weight too quickly with other exercises on a weak shoulder, you're asking for trouble. Focus on those shoulders and make them strong!

yeah be careful. Note though that exercises that strengthen the "shoulder" don't necessarily target the rotator cuff. Doing the big exercises for shoulder like military press or something won't strengthen it.

I'd say talk to your dad about his rubber band thing (I have one too) and ask him what exercises the physical therapists have him do for his numerous shoulder injuries.