Does anyone have input on some effective pec minor stretches? My massage therapist noted it's been tight and while he PNF stretches it, it's not often enough as I need. I've tried the wall stretch, with my arm higher than when I stretch the pec major, but it's not giving me enough of a stretch.
Pec Minor Stretches?
Started by Scott Malin, April 6, 2010 · 4 Replies · 4,702 Views
Pec minor isn't a stretch that you can feel really well.
Check these two articles for some thoughts:
Use a basketball or lacrosse ball (if you're more sadistic) and lie down on top of it and roll around.
There no real good stretch for it (unless you have extremely good scapular control and can manipulate your scapulas so that you get a stretch from a doorway or corner), so you have to mobilize it with objects or your hands.
I use a swiss/physio ball and place my shoulder/arm in 90/90 angles. This way I can get a fairly good strech.
coreathlete said:Does anyone have input on some effective pec minor stretches?
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK:
I stretch straight-arms over a med-ball/firm basketball (i.e. sand-filled), with either 25# plate or stripped barbell gripped firmly between hands and extended overhead, parallel to floor.
Get the med-ball between the shoulder blades, elevate/depress, protract/retract scaps, pull barbell/plate apart with hands. Experiment with different head/neck positions.
Seriously, if you try this one, be careful, it'll reorganize your pecs and pec minors.
There are two variations, first is to fold legs under so you're sitting in a seated-toe-point stretch, or sitting between your ankles. You'll get a great quad/hip-flexor stretch, making this a two-fer.
The other one is to drape over the med-ball and grip the rungs of Swedish bars/Stal bars overhead. You can tear the bar apart, walk up or down the rungs, pull, push, etc.
I do these after any shortened-ROM pushing movement (push-ups, dips), as well as after ring work but prior to bridging.
USE WEIGHTS AT YOUR OWN RISK.