Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Pec stretch feels blocked in back somewhere

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    • 08/12/2014 at 1:09 pm #71068
      AvatarJoyce Lee
      Participant

      When i do a pec stretch (90-90 in a doorway) i can feel a good stretch on my right side but on the left side it just feels like i’m pulling on joints or my shoulder is blocked somewhere in my back…not sure best way to describe it but basically it’s not stretching any muscles more it just feels like i’m running into other parts of my back.  Ideas?

    • 08/13/2014 at 10:07 am #75088
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      I wonder if it’s due to improper scapular action on the left side.  there may be some wonkiness in the way your shoulder moves back and you’ll see that with scapula as you go into the stretch. the best way to take a look would be to shoot some video from the back. if you do this, first start by standing straight up with arms at sides for a few seconds. then move towards the doorway and slowly go into the stretch. pause, then slowly pull yourself out of the stretch. we can take a look at what’s going on back there.

    • 08/14/2014 at 12:52 pm #75092
      AvatarJoyce Lee
      Participant

      Thanks.  I’ll try that out.

    • 08/20/2014 at 5:22 am #75133
      AvatarKatie Hemphill
      Participant

      Hey David,

      This might be one of those cases where a classic stretch is inappropriate. Tissue stiffness might be the problem, not necessarily length. I would try doing some soft-tissue stuff like ball mobilizations and see if you get good results from that.
      Also, you could try raising your elbow a bit above shoulder height when doing the doorway stretch. But, as the mwod saying goes, if it feels sketchy, it’s sketchy.
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