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Why:
The pecs attach to the shoulder blades and sternum so when they get short, they will pull your shoulders forward. Forward shoulders screw up the shoulder blades, upper spine and rib mechanics, as well as all the associated muscles. When the pec minor gets horrifically stiff, it locks your shoulder into a forward position which is unstable for lifting, pushing, paddling and carrying.
How to do it:
- Using a cricket ball or tennis ball. Place the ball in the upper corner of your chest, bring your arm out to 90 degrees and then bend at the elbow so that you have made an upside-down stop sign with your arm (internally rotated).
- Bring the knees to the opposite side to gain stronger chest pressure on the ball.
- Breathe with a 4 second inhale (expanding the belly and relaxing the upper chest) and 8 second exhale. Focus on melting over the ball.
- Hold each position for 1-2 breath cycles before moving your body over the ball (rotate slightly outward/inward or move up/down) to another line of tension. Aim to spend 1-2 minutes on each side of the body. To enhance neural relaxation and therefore to make this technique more effective, you can add a contract/relax element by attempting to push the ball away from your stretched tissue on the 4 second inhale (contract the muscles around the ball) and then slowly relax/melt over the ball as you exhale for 8 seconds. Complete this for 1-2 breath cycles per area.