0:05 This is Brent of the Brookbush Institute, and in this video we're going 0:07 over self-administered static release 0:09 for the rhomboids, a muscle that has 0:11 propensity to get overactive and those 0:12 with upper body dysfunction, specifically 0:15 those that are exhibiting signs of 0:16 excessive downward rotation of the 0:19 scapula. I'm going to have my friend, Melissa, 0:20 come out. She's going to help me demonstrate 0:22 this technique. Now, just a little bit 0:24 about the anatomy of the rhomboids. They 0:27 originate from C6 and C7 and the 0:30 ligamentum nuchae, all the way down to T5, 0:33 and then insert into the vertebral 0:35 border of the scapula. Now, I think a lot 0:40 of individuals have tried to massage 0:42 this area out by leaning back over a 0:45 foam roll, but because of the way that 0:48 your rhomboids are deep to your 0:50 trapezius muscles and where on that 0:53 vertebral border they insert, the 0:56 rhomboid trigger points, which tend to 0:58 build up here, right along that vertebral 1:01 border, are almost blocked by a foam 1:04 roll. Now, the technique I'm about to show 1:06 you, I think a lot of individuals have 1:08 instinctively tried on their own. 1:12 We're going to use a ball. You 1:15 guys can use all sorts of different 1:16 balls. We have training softballs here 1:18 called softies And I love this 1:21 trigger point massage ball, this is the 1:23 four-inch diameter one, I believe. And 1:25 then, of course, my new favorite gadget 1:27 here is the the Hypersphere from 1:29 Hyperice, and I'll explain why that's so 1:31 special in a second. 1:34 We're going to use this ball to go 1:36 ahead and compress right up against the 1:40 vertebral border and the wall just like 1:43 so. How does that feel? Okay? Well, good. Now 1:47 we need to search for the most tender 1:49 spot along that medial border of your 1:52 scapula, 1:53 so you're going to kind of move around a 1:55 little bit. Found it? 1:57 Ok. So, we do have to be kind of careful. 2:01 As people move around they tend to get in 2:03 really bad postures, so I need Melissa to 2:05 kind of let this slide down a little bit 2:08 so that she can get into a quarter squat 2:11 position, have good posture, and still 2:15 apply pressure. We don't want to see this: 2:17 show that limbo position. Yes, I 2:19 see way too much of this position where 2:22 people are like this, and this is a 2:24 great way to light somebody's low back 2:27 up if they have any history of lumbar 2:28 pathology. And of course, it's a little 2:31 strenuous on the neck, and since there's 2:33 so much active in here, I doubt you're 2:35 ever going to get a release. So make sure 2:38 that you've moved over a spot 2:42 that you want to hold and release, 2:43 but that you've also adjusted your body 2:46 in such a way that you can maintain good 2:48 relaxed posture. Now, of course using the 2:52 ball applies compression. We can add a 2:54 little stretch to this technique to up 2:56 receptor activity and hopefully get 2:58 autogenic inhibition. And the way we're 2:59 going to do that is we're going to go 3:01 ahead and cross your arms, but we want to 3:03 make sure when we cross the arms that 3:04 we're crossing arms so they're like tied in 3:07 a knot, so that it takes no muscle activity 3:10 to leave the arms crossed. We want to 3:12 keep this technique passive and allow 3:16 just the weight of the arms themselves 3:17 to pull into protraction. So now we have 3:21 compression with lengthening, or stretch 3:25 caused by the protraction. 3:27 How does that feel? A little bit more 3:29 intense? Cool. 3:31 You ready for step 3? Always. Now if you 3:34 have a Hypersphere from Hyperice, we can 3:39 stimulate pacinian corpuscles, which are 3:41 vibratory receptors. By 3:46 turning this puppy on, which vibrates at 3:50 28-40 Hertz- that's very, very 3:55 fast, that's enough to get a hum 3:57 basically going. And I think you guys are 4:00 going to see as soon as you apply 4:03 vibration with compression and 4:09 potentially some stretch that you get 4:14 very significant releases very fast. It's 4:19 a lot of stimulation, right? So we have 4:21 compression, which is probably Golgi 4:23 tendon organ and Ruffini endings, we have 4:26 our stretch receptors, and 4:29 Golgi tendon organ again leading to 4:30 autogenic inhibition, and now we have our 4:32 pacinian corpuscles being stimulated, 4:34 which are going to lead to further inhibition 4:35 all from this one little 4:39 technique of pinning a Hyperice 4:41 between your rhomboid and the wall. Now, 4:44 do be careful, guys and notice, this is a 4:46 padded wall. 4:47 Of course, we're on turf so 4:49 everything here is padded just in case 4:50 somebody slips, running around. We don't 4:52 want anybody getting injured. If you were to do 4:54 this on more of a normal wall, like 4:56 drywall or brick, it's probably not a bad 4:59 idea to put a towel between- go ahead and lean 5:03 back- the ball and the wall. 5:07 Otherwise, the vibration itself will 5:09 leave little little pop marks on the 5:11 wall. How does that feel? 5:13 Good. Go ahead and move down to the next 5:14 spot. Alright. You guys 5:21 might have several trigger points within 5:23 the rhomboids. Think of how those fibers 5:25 are oriented. They're 5:28 mostly transverse, but they have a little 5:30 bit of a a diagonal this way. 5:37 Yeah? It feels pretty good and that's the 5:40 lowest setting. 5:41 And, you guys can have fun singing 5:46 with this vibration sense on, or doing 5:50 Darth Vader impressions which we were- "Luke, I am your father"- we were 5:53 doing before. 5:57 Alright, guys. I'm going to leave you on 5:58 that note. This is static 6:00 self-administered rhomboid release for 6:02 those with upper body dysfunction on an 6:04 overhead squat assessment. That would be 6:06 somebody who has arms fall or shoulder 6:08 girdle elevates. Notice that we put 6:12 the arms crossed to increase some stretch, 6:15 that she's pinning a ball between 6:18 herself and a wall with good posture, and, 6:21 of course, we added vibration using the 6:23 Hyperice. If you have any questions, 6:24 please leave your questions and comments 6:27 below in the comments box. I'll talk with 6:29 you soon.
