Taylor told me we should re-blog this because many people are bent over weeding which tightens up the pec muscles. So re-enjoy the Pec Stretch Blog!
Pec(toralis) Stretch Oct. 15, 2016
By Taylor Norris, RMT
unionwellness.ca
Our Pec muscles are majorly important for daily actions we make in the chest region, and I have found they often tend to be in some state of overuse.
Located at the front of our upper torso, they span from the collarbone over to the sternum, across the ribs and finally attach at the inner area of the upper arm.
They help us do a variety of actions, mostly centred around bringing the arm forward and across the body as well as the pulling down from above action.
They commonly become overused as most of what we do in a day happens in front of us, so these muscles are constantly working while also being in a shortened position, often for hours at a time if lots of daily desk work is involved.
To help combat this type of overuse, (which can present as: pain in the Pec muscles, difficulty with shoulder movements, rounding of the back and restricted chest expansion to name a few), stretching them out often is key!
To do this, simply find yourself a door frame/doorway with some wall space (in my case a fence!) and fix the arm of the side you would like to stretch beginning at 90 degrees along the frame.
Keeping your back lengthened, take a step forward and turn slightly away from the frame, holding the stretch for at least 30 seconds if possible. As always, if there is pain reduce the amount of pressure, or, turn in this case, or, stop the stretch altogether. By playing with the 90 degree angle of the fixed arm a bit and taking it up to 115 degrees or so if you can, you’ll be able to stretch into both Pec major and Pec minor…and who doesn’t love a good two-for-one deal?!
Next Up! Lunges!
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