Facebook Pixel
Brookbush Institute Logo
Preview

Levator Scapula SA Static Stretch

This video will demonstrate how to do a simple and effective static stretch for the levator scapulae muscle. Learn the best position and the key tips to achieve a safe and effective stretch.

9 likes

Transcript

00:02 - 00:07This is Brent, President of B2C Fitness. In this video, we're going to do our static,
00:07 - 00:12self-administered, levator scapulae stretch. Now our levator scapulae is one of
00:12 - 00:16those muscles that gets over active and adaptively shortens in those people with
00:16 - 00:18upper body dysfunction.
00:18 - 00:22As well as those individuals with cervical posture dysfunction or forward
00:22 - 00:27head tilt. Now before we do this stretch, it involves the neck, and anytime we do a
00:27 - 00:29stretch for the neck, we need to be a little bit more cautious. There's some
00:29 - 00:33very delicate structures that can be affected in the neck stretch. Things
00:33 - 00:38like our brachial plexus, we have these little vertebral foramen that can impinge
00:38 - 00:39down on nerves.
00:39 - 00:43We have these transverse foramen that house something called a vertebral artery,
00:43 - 00:47that can also get pinched down on and affect blood flow to the brain. That
00:47 - 00:51would not be a positive thing at all, but what I'm about to show you guys is
00:51 - 00:57totally safe, providing you remember one thing. This stretch is not going to take
00:57 - 01:02the amount of force to lengthen a muscle that you would use on some of the bigger
01:02 - 01:06structures and bigger joints in our body. If we put the calf stretch on one
01:06 - 01:11end, taking a whole lot of force, you know and then the hip takes a little less force,
01:11 - 01:14of course, when we're dealing with the shoulder, we need to be a little bit more
01:14 - 01:19delicate, cervical stretches would be like way over here. They only
01:19 - 01:23take a really small amount of force to create a lengthening of that structure.
01:23 - 01:27I'm gonna have my friend Laura come out and help me demonstrate this exercise.
01:27 - 01:34Now, our levator scapulae goes from the superior angle of our scapula to the
01:34 - 01:41transverse processes, those processes that stick out of the side of cervical vertebrae 1
01:41 - 01:44through 4. Alright, so this muscle goes from here to here.
01:44 - 01:49I know you guys have felt this muscle before. If you feel right down here near
01:49 - 01:54the origin, you probably got a lot of trigger points, a lot of knots, a lot of
01:54 - 01:59painful spots. Alot of people attribute to the trap, usually is this nasty little
01:59 - 02:03levator scapulae. Now, you guys can kind of see how it would pull us into that upper
02:03 - 02:06body postural dysfunction, but let's see how it would pull on it to get it
02:06 - 02:09lengthened, so we can get it stretched out, get it to
02:09 - 02:15calm down. Alright, so this muscle does this- lateral flexion, ipsilateral rotation,
02:15 - 02:20and extension. All we have to do is the opposite to stretch.
02:20 - 02:24Alright, so she's going to go into lateral flexion, rotation, and just
02:25 - 02:30a tad bit of flexion this way, and then I'm going to improve the stretch just a
02:30 - 02:35little bit by having her stabilize her scapula, by kind of reaching down with
02:35 - 02:35this arm.
02:35 - 02:40She doesn't have to do it real hard, I don't want to activate anything. Just stabilize and
02:40 - 02:45reach down a little bit. That will depress and posteriorly tip my scapula. Then she
02:45 - 02:50can create a little bit of overpressure with this hand, by going to the back corner
02:50 - 02:55of her head, just with like either the weight of her hand, or with the pressure of her
02:55 - 03:00fingertips, create enough force to get a good stretch down here. Now, I'm going to show you guys a
03:00 - 03:05couple more angles you can see exactly what's this stretch looks like. If you go
03:05 - 03:06from the front,
03:06 - 03:09I think you guys have put together all those joint actions real quickly, because
03:09 - 03:14this stretch has a nickname. It's nicknamed "the pocket stretch." So if I have her
03:14 - 03:21depress, stabilize that scapula, she can hold on to the back of her thigh, or glute.
03:21 - 03:27And then I have her just look down into the opposite front pocket, let's say this is pants, head, pockets. All right so,
03:27 - 03:31she's gonna look right down here. She just did all the joint actions I needed her to do.
03:31 - 03:35She did some lateral flexion. She did some rotation. Just a little bit of
03:35 - 03:40flexion, and then she can use this hand to help her see the bottom of her pocket.
03:42 - 03:46She can hold onto that. One little pointer guys, because some people have a
03:46 - 03:49hard time feeling the stretch.
03:52 - 03:55Depress this scapula. All right, so you grab here.
03:55 - 03:59One thing I want you guys to know, it's probably the most important joint action
03:59 - 04:03of the three, to get a good stretch on this muscle, is to go into lateral
04:03 - 04:04flexion.
04:04 - 04:08Alright, so when I say there's flexion and rotation, she's not flexing like chin
04:08 - 04:09to her chest,
04:09 - 04:15she's just lateral flexion, rotation next, and then just a little bit of flexion. So
04:15 - 04:20you guys can see that angle matches up with the exact opposing angle of this
04:20 - 04:27muscle here. She'll then go ahead and put a slight bit of overpressure. Now, like all
04:27 - 04:33static stretches guys, we're going to wait 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or ideally until
04:33 - 04:35we get enough of that
04:35 - 04:40golgi tendon organ stimulus to give something called autogenic inhibition,
04:40 - 04:46which is going to be felt by us as a release that allows us to lengthen out
04:46 - 04:50that tissue a little bit farther. So once again guys, this is your levator scapulae
04:50 - 04:54stretch. We're doing a static stretch, so you're gonna hold it for 30 seconds to 2
04:54 - 04:58minutes. I hope you guys enjoy this technique and see a good improvement in your
04:58 - 04:59movement. I'll talk with you soon.

Comments

Guest

3 Certifications, 165+ Courses, 500+ videos, and so much more!

The Brookbush Institute (BI) continues to improve affordability, access, flexibility, and convenience to the highest-quality education.

The Bl is the only approved/accredited certification and continuing education course provider with a true monthly membership model (cancel anytime).

This reduces the initial cost of education to just 3-5% of comparable education, improving access to complete, continue, or just "try" education with low financial risk. Don't get fooled by great marketing to make a large purchase for potentially sub-optimal education. Become a member, and find out why we think this is the way education should be!


or
Sign Up with Email Address
Already Have an Account? Sign In