WHAT MUSCLES SHOULD YOU REALLY STRETCH-PART #2
Let's take a look at the remainder of the upper half of the human body and identify which areas need stretching, and vice versa. In part #1, you were introduced to a foundational stretching principle and gained valuable practical insight into how to go about selecting stretches for specific joints of the lower body. Recall that some areas are designed to be stretched, while others are naturally geared towards stability and not so much stretching. Next, we are going to look at the remainder of the upper half of the human body and identify which areas need stretching, and vice versa. Let's get started.
The Lower Back
Since the invention of fitness training, there has been a constant promotion of stretches for the lower back (i.e. Child's pose, etc.), but it's undoubtedly at the expense of all local or direct structures of the unique area. I don't care who you are and what you have been through or told, the lower back is designed for stability more so than just about any other joint.
But why is that? Well, for starters, the spine possesses very little capacity to rotate, and just a tad more when it comes to bending and extending, according to research from Dr. McGill. Factor in loading factors with weight training, gravity, poor posture, and more, and you can see why over 80 percent of Americans incur back pain at some point in their life. The take-home message here will always be to create stiffness and stability through your spine with exercises like endless plank progressions, chops, lifts, pallof presses, dead bugs, bridges, and pushup variations, to name a few. And just ditch the stretching altogether unless you test positive with an extension tolerance test (see video below). If you perform the right sequence listed below, then it can be optional to incorporate some select exercises and light stretching and rounding of the lower back. But remember the goal here is for postural correction and restoration purposes, just to return to normal, rather than creating local progressive overload to the abdominals with your crunches. EMG muscle activity reports consistently show that your compound exercises (i.e. Overhead presses, squats, and deadlifts) generate much more work in the abdominals versus crunch variations. I like doing both for different reasons, but your classic compound lifts should be primary.
Lower Back Corrective Circuit
Step #1-Foam Roll Hip Flexors/Quads
Step #2-Perform Hip Flexor Stretch variation
Step #3-Perform Double Leg Bridge for Glute and Deep Multifidi Activation
Step #4-Perform Standard planks to encourage low back stiffness and sound alignment
Step #5-Perform Clamshells, Wall-based Jane Fonda's, or Lateral Band Walk variations
Step #6-Perform Lower Abdominal Variations (Reverse Crunch, unloaded, loaded, or hanging leg raise)
Mid-Back (aka Thoracic Spine)
Now, if you are looking for a safe area to integrate some stretching, this is it. Unlike the lower back, the middle back has more degrees of freedom and movement when it comes to stretching. There is some strategic benefit when it comes to mobilizing this area of your spine, as it activates and provides a low-level training stimulus and develops key muscles of the scapula, which are linked to proper ribcage and hip joint stacking, known as "The Zone of Apposition."
Last but not least, the Lat and pecs encompass about as much area on the body as any other muscle group, along with the Quadriceps. As such, this pair tends to bully the smaller muscles and keep the shoulder blades and mid back in tight and eventually dysfunctional positions. Some mobility work here can go a long way toward aiding some weak areas when it comes to the structural balance of your muscles and keeping the lats and several others at bay. Notice how I mentioned "mobility" rather than flexibility. The distinction is important in this region of the upper body since the mid-back and thoracic area respond better to subtle and gentle extension movements to manipulate and move the joints rather than focusing on the muscles. In this area, it becomes extremely hard to distinguish if it's the thoracic joints causing tightness or the lats and pecs, so a failproof approach is to address the joints here, and you'll knock out the muscles when we discuss the shoulder shortly.
Scapula
Right on top of the mid back sits the scapula. Now, as I just alluded to, there is nothing wrong with some rounding of the back and shoulder blades to activate commonly weak areas and untrain extended back postures. However, just as important, if not more, is the need to teach the scapula to pull back, retract, and posteriorly tilt, and stay locked in during movement. Think about deadlifting, squatting, benching, and anything that requires a stable upright posture
You are only as strong as your weakest link, and a very strong argument could be made for the scapula in general being that weak link in most. Your biggest allies in this department to address the scapula specifically would be YTWLs, seated hang cleans, t-bar rows, seated rows, DB rows, and much more. Here is one of my personal favorites, popularized by Dr. John Rusin; The Angled Face Pull.
The Shoulder
The Glenohumeral Joint would be more formal here, but the shoulder works just as well as a reference. You need stability to prevent unwanted micro-movements or false gliding at the shoulder joint. However, the lats and other relative muscles can pose problems and become stiff, so some restoration and maintenance of proper muscle length through stretching can be warranted after a simple evaluation of the mobility of your shoulder. The over-under stretch and shoulder flexion against the wall, compliments of The National Academy of Sports Medicine, will do the trick and tell you what you need. On a final note, the sternal fibers of the chest muscles never test positive unless you have just undergone surgery. There is no need to directly stretch this area, and they will receive plenty of attention in any press or row variation you perform. The clavicular fibers, on the other hand, may have some tightness that can be addressed. I apologize in advance because I made a mistake and said the sternal head when I meant clavicular in the video, as you will see.
The Neck
The last area of concern when it comes to stretching would be the neck. A naturally delicate and weaker area will not require much stretching at all. Simple chin tucks with the head pressed against the wall are all that you need. This position provides a very subtle but effective stretch without compromising any vulnerable areas of the neck and builds positional awareness as well, which is just as much of a concern as stretching the neck itself. I want to share with you an underrated dynamic stretch that is very original. I've had great success using this with my clients. As I previously mentioned, the common issue is one of body awareness, so the neck against the wall with proper chin tuck provides ample stretch, and it's a great tactile/sensory cue that builds good feel, and works on creating limb motion off of the stable neck position, which is what you will need in all training and sport settings if you want to remain or stay healthy.
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