Pectoralis Major and Minor SA Static Stretch

Pectoralis major and minor static stretch (SA) is an exercise designed to stretch and strengthen the chest muscles. It involves stretching the chest muscles in a static, held position for a set period of time. This stretch can help to improve posture, reduce shoulder discomfort, and improve flexibility in the chest. It is a relatively simple exercise and can be done in a variety of ways. To perform the pectoralis major and minor static stretch, stand or sit in a straight-

Transcript

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This is Brent, President of B2C Fitness, and we're talking about our static stretching
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techniques. In this video, we're going to tackle the pec stretch. Of course, if
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we're dealing with individuals with upper body dysfunction,
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we have adaptively shortened structures, we can't just deal with the pec major, we
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have to make sure the pec minor is incorporated in the stretch as well. So,
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I'm going to have my friend Laura come out and help me demonstrate how to take our
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standard pec wall stretch, and ensure that our pec minor is getting lengthened
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as well.
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All right, so you guys can see how we have this set up. Her elbow is just past
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the edge of this wall,
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she's got her elbow bent, and her hand kind of curled up just a little bit.
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The reason we're going to go ahead and do that is if we get straight out,
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we get straight out with the fingers extended, it's real easy to lengthen our
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median and ulnar nerve, and you'll
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get this, like, tingly sensation down the arm.
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We don't want to deal with any of that, for now, anyway. We want to make sure
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that we're stretching these two structures. We stick to our goal, so to
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speak.
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So, we got this stretch, this is a good stretch,
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this is our pec major stretch, you guys have all seen this. You've probably seen
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it, however, with the elbow kind of down the wall this way. I see a lot of people
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stretch this .
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This might be effective for the pec major, but it certainly is not effective
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for the pec minor. So a little anatomy lesson-- our pec minor goes from coracoid
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process, to ribs three, four, and five.
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It protracts the scapula, downwardly rotates the scapula, and anteriorly tips
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the scapula. So what I need Laura to do to ensure that we lengthen the pec minor,
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she's going to bring her elbow up, so this way we have upwardly rotated the scapula,
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lengthening the pec minor a little bit.
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She's going to retract her scapula, lengthening the pec minor a little
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further, and then actually as she retracted, she also did just a little bit
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of thoracic extension for me, which is going to posteriorly tip her scapula and
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lengthen the pec minor, just that much further.
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She should feel this both along this lateral aspect of her pec, as well as
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possibly through the whole body of the pec major. I do find that of the two, pec
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minor has a much larger propensity to get tight in individuals. Even when most
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people are talking about pec soreness,
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I find a lot of people will point to their pec minor. So don't be surprised that
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you set somebody up, and this is the only place they feel it. Now with all static
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stretching guys, we are going to hold a position calmly, we're going to take nice, deep
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breaths, and we're going to wait for a feeling of release
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ideally. This should take somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes and
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we should see some sort of increase in length, increase in extensibility,
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increase in range of motion in her scapula
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if this stretch is effective. I hope you guys enjoy this technique.
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I hope it's effective for you, and I hope that helps correct some dysfunction you