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This is Brent, President of B2C Fitness, and in
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this video we're doing our active pec
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stretch. So that's an active stretch that's going to concentrate on
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increasing extensibility of both our pectoralis major, and pectoralis minor.
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I'm going to assume at this point that we've already done our release
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techniques, as well as done static stretching to return this muscle to
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optimal length. Now, active stretching we're going to use to help increase end
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range strength of our functional antagonists, which in this case are going
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to be our mid and lower traps, as well as to start returning optimal or normal
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reciprocal inhibition back to our upper body mechanics. I'm going to have my
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friend, Leanne, come out and help demonstrate this technique. Some of
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you have seen protocols for active stretching, and obviously all we need to
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do is take a muscle to its end range and then try to activate the functional
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antagonists. However, it is often helpful to use gravity to create a little bit
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extra overpressure, a little added force, to our active stretches. In this case, to
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increase the amount of force on Leanne's pecs, I'm going to go ahead and use
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gravity while she's in a supine position to help push a little further. So the
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first position we're going to use here, is I have Leanne on a foam roll. You
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could use a half foam roll, or a yoga mat balled up to help
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elevate her off the ground. This is going to help to position her spine so that we
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get a little bit of thoracic extension. That thoracic extension is going to help
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put our scapula in the place they need to be, which is going to be posteriorly
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tilted. So if we end up in thoracic extension of the scapula,
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a little bit posteriorly tilted, she's then going to take her arms and put them
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back behind her head like this. This is going to further posteriorly tilt her
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scapula, as well as upwardly rotate. Now, if you remember your functional
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anatomy, pectoralis minor does downward rotation and anterior tipping. So already
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at this point I have her at a static pectoralis minor stretch. We know her
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pectoralis major, as well, is on stretch because I am horizontally abducted, as
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well as fully externally rotated in this position. Now, from here, all Leanne has to
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do is squeeze her shoulder blades back together trying to
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get her elbows to the floor. She's going to hold that position for 2 to 5
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seconds, and then she's just going to relax, and she's going to do this anywhere from
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8 to 15 times. Now, there are a couple of variations we could do to this
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stretch. If this did not work for Leanne, I can have Leanne put her hands on the
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floor. So she's in the shape of a big T, or maybe a little bit more like a
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Y, we still want a little bit of elbow above the shoulder, we still want to keep
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her hands up just a little bit to ensure upward rotation of the scapula, but she
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can do the same thing here. All she's going to do is, she's going to retract
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her scapula and try to kind of flatten her forearms against the floor. She's
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going to hold for 2, really try to open up, and she's going to relax.
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Make sure you're drawn-in. Be very careful that when you have them put their
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hands out like this they don't start doing this, that anterior tipping. That's
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a sign that their pectoralis minor is very tight ant heir trying to compensate around it.
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Obviously if that's what we're trying to stretch, we want to ensure that she stays
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down and back in her shoulder blades, posteriorly tipped, we want to ensure that
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she is retracting around this foam roll, and that she is in fact lengthening her
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both pectoralis minor and a major by reaching up, out and down towards the floor. So
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there you guys have it, that is your pec active stretch for both pectoralis minor
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and major. The protocols for active stretching are always the same, it's
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going to be 2 to 5 second holds at end range, contracting those functional
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antagonists, which in this case was mid traps and lower traps, and you're going
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to do 8 to 15 reps, or you're going to continue doing reps until you
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see a little bit of an increase in extensibility. I hope you enjoyed
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this video, I hope you enjoyed the technique. Thank you Leanne, and we'll see you