Dooley Noted: 9/9/2015
When doing pull-ups yesterday, I felt a tightness around the inside of my shoulder blade.
My first instinct was to stretch my rhomboids, middle traps, and levator scapulae. These muscles surround the area where I felt tightness.
They have the common action of scapular retraction.
But when I watched a video of my pull-up, I noticed my shoulder was rolled forward into protraction.
The aforementioned muscles were already on stretch.
Had I stopped to stretch them, I would have made the issue worse.
My perception of tightness was actually muscles already being stretched, without enough shortening phases to balance it.
So, I fought my instinct to stretch something that was already locked in a long position.
I did some face pulls to shorten up the muscles, focusing strongly on the retraction phase.
When I returned to the pull-up, all tightness had dissipated.
My retractors were stretch-weakened already. Had I stretched them more, the tightness would still be there.
Take videos.
Whatever you struggle doing, get yourself to do it.
And if you stretch an area and still feel tightness, you might need strength somewhere close by.
If you aren’t comfortable yet watching yourself, then get assessed by someone who can teach you.
Get corrected by a movement specialist.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
