Smash Your Pecs The Right Way

articleVideo

Optimal overhead movement of the shoulder is sometimes restricted by external rotation.  Limited shoulder external rotation will limit your overhead range, and specific positions such as the front rack position of the front squat.  One of the things that needs to happen when you externally rotate is posterior tilting of the scapula, which is a problem that people run into when they have tightness in the pec minor.

That said, people love to smash the pec minor with the ball, which can provide acute results, providing more space, but doesn’t teach the body how to activate the posterior tilters.  I’m not against smashing, I just believe it needs to be followed up with a strategy to profit from the window of opportunity it provides.  I also like to leave people with their smashing if it makes them feel good, because leaving them with some of their candy keeps them more compliant with the other elements I add to their rehab.

If you do like to smash the pec minor, a better way to do it is to add reciprocal inhibition to it.  What happens to the pec minor if I contract its antagonist, ie. the posterior tilters of the scapula?  It will reflexively relax. Activating the serratus anterior and lower trapezius will reflexively relax the pec minor.

Watch the full video to see how to smash your pec minor the right way!

 


 


Mai-Linh Dovan M.SC., CAT(C)
Certified Athletic Therapist
Founder of Rehab-U

 

Be part of the conversation

Get access to your free 20-min video
The Movement Optimization Strategy

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
+
+
+

FREE full body workout sample

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
+

Post-clinical
Rehab

+

Movement
optimization

+