Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Anterior shoulder/pec minor tightness › Re: Anterior shoulder/pec minor tightness

07/15/2014 at 2:00 pm #74958
AvatarNathan Richer
Participant

Alex, as you look at what Kaitlin has posted, i would also add that there sounds like a strong chance that you have protracted shoulders where they have drifted forward of their sockets.  the pec/pec minor/ant delt tightness is probably making that condition even more established and is often evidence of protracted shoulders. if they are very forward, you will find it hard to do any kind of overhead at all and will increase the risk of shoulder impingement problems.

try this. take a 16kg/35lb kettlebell. lay down on the ground and raise it up carefully to vertical. let the weight of the KB press the shoulder to the rear of the shoulder joint – let it stretch your pec/pec minor/ant delt and fatigue them such that they release and let the shoulder go back. keep the elbow locked out and you can reach over with your other arm to block the elbow from bending under fatigue.  do this for a good 2 minutes on each side.
immediately after doing it, carefully place the KB down and before you get up, try to do a snow angel with either arm. can you get it higher overhead, past 90 deg where you couldn’t before?
using a supernova on the pecs and anterior delts will be helpful.  you can get at some of the tissue of the pec minor but i find that sometimes i have to stand up and drive the point of the gemini into the crevice bet shoulder and chest to get at deep tissues there.  smash all of that and test again.
the other part to try is smashing and activation of the posterior area.  it is possible that they have weakened or have been inhibited because the pec/pec minor/ant delt have been so tight.  so smash them to help mobilize them: rear delt, lats, around the shoulder blades, use a softer ball on top of the shoulder blades. if you can afford it, i would highly recommend the crossover symmetry system. i’ve been using it and it’s done wonders for my shoulders in activating the posterior shoulder muscle complex.
and always retest after doing a mobilization!
last, if it is this and the other issues, work on 24/7 attention to posture and forward shoulders and neck.
check this video out: