Pectoral (Chest) Stretch - The Most Common Mistake in the Best Shoulder Stretch
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Why is this stretch so good? Round-shouldered posture is a main contributor to neck and upper body pain and rotator cuff injury. Round-shouldered posture feels comfortable and natural when the front chest muscles are tight. A common mistake is to stretch the shoulder joint, which does not address this problem.
The purpose of the pectoral stretch is to lengthen chest muscles so that healthier positioning feels natural and comfortable. If you merely hold your elbow to the side, little lengthening can occur - shown in first photo:
Second photo below - changing the position to get the purpose - lengthening anterior (front) muscles that go across the chest. One way is to use a wall to help you press your elbow back.
- Turn your body and feet away from the wall.
- Your elbow is behind you, no longer out to the side.
- Raising the elbow higher or lower changes the stretch.
- Experiment until you only feel a stretch in the front chest and no pain or pinching anywhere in the shoulder:
- Keep shoulder down and relaxed
- Do not make any pain anywhere. The idea is to make things healthier, not to strain, push, force, tighten, grunt, and call that a health promotion activity.
- Understand the purpose first. The purpose of this stretch is to lengthen front chest muscles so that tightness does not pull you into feeling that round-shouldered position is the norm or that it is uncomfortable to straighten. Feel the stretch in the intended area.
- Use a mirror to help you connect what the position looks like with what it feels like.
- Use your brain.
Related:
Fix One Pain, Don't Cause AnotherMore to Stretch the Anterior Chest:
What Does Stretching Do?
The Stretch You Need The Least
Stretching With a Friend - Partner Pectoral Stretch
Pectoral Stretch was first introduced in Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain
Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch
Mike Benson's Success Stories:
A Whole Big Fix
Fast Fitness - Core Hip & Body, Posture Strength & Balance
Flasher Exercises Not Best for Shoulder Pain
Healthy Youth Parties - Fun Exercise, No Junk Food
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Read success stories of these methods and send your own.
Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, or in the Fitness Fixer Index.
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See Dr. Bookspan's Books. Get certified - DrBookspan.com/Academy.
Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, or in the Fitness Fixer Index.
RSS feeds still down - Click "updates via e-mail" (under trumpet) upper right.
See Dr. Bookspan's Books. Get certified - DrBookspan.com/Academy.
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Photos by and of Fitness Fixer reader success Mike Benson
Labels: arm, chest, fix pain, posture, readers inspiring story, rotator cuff, shoulder, stretch
3 Comments:
At Tuesday, May 19, 2009 8:50:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Thank you, Dr. Bookspan. This is very helpful. Now I finally understand the little thing that makes a big difference ;-)
On a different note: i had a question regarding a prior blog entry, so i posted a comment over there. Is this the right method to commuincate a question to you?
At Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:38:00 PM,
Unknown said…
RSS/Atom feeds haven't been working for quite some time.
At Thursday, May 21, 2009 2:08:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
M. Sebastian, thank you for letting us know. It is great to when someone writes to help, instead of only asking for something.
I am told that Healthline knows and that the feeds continue to go down.
Do you know if the "Subscribe via e-mail" option is working? I have been writing that option at the end of posts. Good to know if that needs changing.
Many thanks for taking the time to help. Good work!
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To Anonymous, good work making the Pectoral Stretch useful. Yes comments on a specific topic are best in that topic post. Helps others with similar questions. Strings of answers from all who comment to a previous comment can collect in one place
I get hundreds of questions daily. Many answers area already in Fitness Fixer posts and on my web site. Check those first. Fun new comments are made into posts. So many to do. Enjoy all that is already here.
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