Manual Stretch To Increase Scapular Mobility

When an athlete comes to me and explains they are having a lot of tightness in their upper back or I see that their range of motion, especially in the shoulder, seems limited; I will have them first roll out on a foam roller.  When that does not seem to improve the situation, I will turn to doing manual stretching.

There are many muscles located in the upper back region and I believe the Rhomboid muscles (major and minor) are the main culprits of much of this tightness.  In the picture (from Wikipedia) to the right, the rhomboid major muscle is highlighted in red.  The rhomboid minor lies just above it.  When these muscles get tight it is very difficult for many individuals to get a good stretch on those muscles.

Manual stretching in my opinion is by far the most effective method of stretching these muscles.  I want to point out here that you will be also stretching other muscles in the area as well, I just think the rhomboid muscles many times are the major problem.

There are various methods of positioning the body to perform this stretch.  Since I am usually in a weight room with the athletes, I am going to explain how to do it standing since I will not have a nice treatment table to have them lay down on and a weight room bench is not wide enough for the position they would need to be in (face down).

First, be very direct with your athlete and explain to them what the stretch is and how it will potentially help them.  If you already watched the video, you saw that this is very hands on and someone may not be comfortable with you pushing your fingers behind their scapula.  After the athlete verbally tells you they would like to have the stretch done, explain to the them that if the feel light-headed at any time to let you know.  An athlete might feel faint when you are doing the stretch and they are thinking about what you are actually doing.  In the 12+ years that I have been performing this stretch on athletes, this has happened only one time.

After you have completely explained how the stretch is done, tell the athlete to relax as he/she is standing there.  This is why a treatment table makes this stretch a little easier to perform because the athlete can lay down.  I will lightly tap the area where the rhomboid muscles are located.  This will help to relax the musculature in that area.

Locate the bottom point of the scapula.  You may have to poke around a little if you have a thicker athlete.  After you have located the bottom point, run your fingers up the backside of the bone until your pinky finger is just above the bottom point (refer back to the video for a visual explanation).  Keep your fingers straight and lay them flat against the back.  The back of your hand and wrist will be towards the spine.  Now take your other hand and place it on the front portion of the shoulder.  With this hand you will push the shoulder back and this will raise the scapula slightly allowing you to push your fingers under the scapula.  As your fingers start to go behind the scapula, continue to push on the front of the shoulder.  This will increase how deep you will be able to get your fingers allowing for a better stretch.  Hold it in that position for a few seconds.  Sometimes you will actually feel the muscles relax as you are holding the stretch.  The scapula is a “floating” bone and is attached and positioned by muscles so you do not have to worry about dislocating anything.

Keep in constant communication with your athlete as you take pressure off the front shoulder and remove your back fingers.  Slide your fingers further up the scapula towards the neck.  Tap the area again to help relax the muscles.  Perform the stretch again in this location.  You will find this to be a little more difficult and tighter.  If it is the first time the athlete is having the stretch done, it may be difficult for them to relax so you may have to make a few attempts.

After you have completed the stretch, perform it on the other side as well.  Then have the athlete move their arms around and ask them how they feel.  The expression typically on their face will be priceless as they can not believe how much better they feel.  I am warning you now that once you do this stretch on someone, they will become a pain in your butt!  The stretch is so effective that the athlete will continue to come back to you every couple of days and ask for it again and again.  In the video, I explain how this stretch can be done with a tennis or lacrosse ball.  I typically show an athlete at this point how to do it with a ball now that they understand and have felt the stretch.

This is a great stretch to increase range of motion and scapular mobility but do not abuse this stretch.  I typically will only stretch the area once in each position.  Mobility in the scapula is a good thing but hypermobility (rarely ever seen) is not and is usually found in athletes with muscle imbalances.  Understand what you are dealing with and then you can make a good and sound judgement on how to fix it.

Hope that helps!

To your health,

Jerry