00:00:0200:00:05
This is Brent, President of B2C Fitness,
00:00:0200:00:05
and we're talking about
00:00:0500:00:09
self-administered static release techniques of those muscles that line
00:00:0900:00:12
just above our shoulder blade. Now, we have three muscles up there, we have the
00:00:1200:00:18
levator scapulae, the supraspinatus, and the upper trap. Despite the upper
00:00:1800:00:22
trap taking blame for most of the tightness in this area, what we find is
00:00:2200:00:26
that it's actually the levator scapulae that gets tightest first. This has
00:00:2600:00:31
to do with a more detailed explanation of our upper-body dysfunction where the
00:00:3100:00:36
scapula goes into downward rotation, and anterior tipping. Now, the muscle that's
00:00:3600:00:40
best at that is the levator scapulae, if we take it a little further we find that
00:00:4000:00:44
the supraspinatus is next in line to develop trigger points, and the trap is
00:00:4400:00:48
actually the least likely of the three to develop trigger points and adaptively
00:00:4800:00:52
short. So, in this way, we create a little progression. The first thing I would like
00:00:5200:00:56
you to go after is levator scapulae trigger points, then followed by
00:00:5600:01:00
supraspinatus trigger points, and then if there're still trigger points left, we'll
00:01:0000:01:04
go after the traps. So I'm going to have Laura come out and help me demonstrate
00:01:0400:01:08
this levator scapulae self-administered static release. Now, your levator scapulae
00:01:0800:01:14
runs from the superior angle of your scapula, up into your neck, so if you
00:01:1400:01:18
palpate this upward corner, and then go just above it,
00:01:1800:01:22
you'll find those trigger points you're looking for. So I'm going to have Laura
00:01:2200:01:26
place the ball where she thinks those trigger points are. She's going to go
00:01:2600:01:31
ahead lean up against the wall, and then place her hand there to stabilize the
00:01:3100:01:35
ball. Now, notice she's using the opposite hand, but if you use the same hand you'll
00:01:3500:01:40
activate the levator scapulae and you're less likely to get a release. Now, when she has
00:01:4000:01:45
found the most tender spot by rolling around just a little bit, she can put
00:01:4500:01:51
that muscle in stretch, by going into contralateral flexion, contralateral
00:01:5100:01:53
rotation, and a little bit of flexion, so she's going to look into her
00:01:5300:02:00
opposite pocket. Then, she's going to hold that until she gets a release. That
00:02:0000:02:06
usually happens within 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Now, one thing I would suggest
00:02:0600:02:09
against is, every once in a while I see somebody try to perform this technique
00:02:0900:02:14
on the floor. When you're on the floor, your head goes back into extension
00:02:1400:02:19
shortening that muscle way down, and it also makes it much harder to get
00:02:1900:02:23
comfortable. So, if you try this technique, once again, we're going to go up against
