Stop Stretching Your Shoulder

If you’ve been stretching and stretching your shoulder… but it is still stiff, sore, restricted or stuck. The underlying problem might be how your ribcage and thoracic spine is (or is not) functioning… So if this is you, it might be time to Stop Stretching Your Shoulder and try this framework instead

Want to read the transcript instead?

here it is…

Stop Stretching Your Shoulder

 Try This Instead

  Are you consistently stretching your shoulder, but it’s still tight? You’re not alone. Most people with persistent shoulder pain are stuck in the same cycle. Stretch, feel a little bit better, tightens back up again. Repeat.

Hi, I’m Alexis Weidland, osteopath at Blossoming Me in Healthy Learning Lounge. Are you finding the cycle of pain stretch, mild or short term relief, followed by pain getting you frustrated?

Here’s the truth:

If stretching alone had worked, you wouldn’t still be here.

Stretching can give short-term relief, but not long-term change. And here’s why. Because your brain tightens muscles on purpose… for protection. When something is injured or unstable. Or as a compensation to cope with extra strain from another area that is not functioning properly. Stretching those muscles might feel good and cause a short term improvement, relaxation, and lengthening of those muscles, but it doesn’t change the reason that those muscles are guarding in the first place.

The Problem:

If you don’t fix the reason those muscles are protecting or compensating, then the muscles will continue to re-tighten and cause pain again.

• If your shoulder is tight, painful, reduced in mobility.
• And your rib cage is locked up.

👉You’re trying to move a joint that literally doesn’t have the space, releasing muscles that are holding on for dear life

You See:

The shoulder isn’t limited by itself. It’s limited by

👉rib cage position and mobility;

👉thoracic spine, mobility, and position,

👉shoulder blade mechanics (affected by the above two) and

👉poor core control.

But if your ribs don’t move, and/or your thoracic spine is restricted, your scapula then can’t glide properly,

👉then your shoulder is trying to force movement where it doesn’t exist.

That’s where 🔥impingement, 🔥pain and 🔥inflammation can come from.

Unless, of course the shoulder problem was caused by a direct traumatic type injury.

So, What’s the point?

This is a shift that can change everything.

Stop trying to force mobility into a system that’s already stuck. Start giving your body a reason to let go of that tension.

🎯Improve your rib cage mobility, positioning, and function;

🎯improve your thoracic spine mobility, position, and function;

🎯give your shoulder blades a smooth surface to work on to be able to glide;

🎯and then slowly improve your core stabilizing muscles.

Yes, your deep abdominal muscles, your pelvic floor. But specifically your deep shoulder stabilizing muscles, the ones that you don’t see. Underneath the muscles that you generally train to look toned and strong.

That comes from

• ribcage mobility exercises;
• breath work to allow better rib mechanics and to provide a smooth ribcage surface for the shoulder blades to be able to glide over;
• thoracic mobility exercises to create space and to allow those rib mechanics to function properly;
• shoulder stabilizing exercises to strengthen and stabilize the shoulder blade on the rib cage and the position of the whole shoulder joint for safe and optimal range of motion.

🎯That’s how you get back your shoulder range and keep it.

Deep Shoulder Stabilising Muscles?

Every time you lift, reach or hold your body weight with your upper limb. Your deep shoulder stabilizing muscles are the ones that have to help to keep your scapula and the true shoulder joint in the correct position.

If this position is altered, then the angle of the muscles that the shoulder has to work from is altered, and this causes the muscles to work less effectively and they have to work harder in order to do their job.

And it often means that there is a rubbing over the bony prominence or other tissues causing friction, inflammation and pain.

Plus, the joint itself is pulled out of optimal position so that when the humerus rolls, instead of it rolling and gliding comfortably and unrestricted, it rolls and gets caught. Causing a hard restriction of movement as well as pain.

So, Does This Affect Me?

Do you notice that your shoulders sit too high? That you can relax them and they do drop down and backwards. But subconsciously they’ll start to lift back up??

If you want to improve your shoulder mobility, reduce shoulder pain and stiffness and relax tense muscles, you need to

1. Focus on mobility, position and function of the whole rib cage and thoracic spine.Get that moving well, and then
2. Slowly build strength into the shoulder stabilizing muscles using different functional movements.
3. Then you can start to add weights and do exercises that create muscle bulk, if that’s what you want, all while maintaining happy, comfortable, and unrestricted shoulders. And best of all, you won’t have to constantly stretch and stretch and feel like you’re getting nowhere.

That’s why I’ve created the Ribcage Reset Mini course.

It’s about supporting your torso in the way that helps your whole body to function better, move better, feel better.

👉 It works alongside manual therapies. To help you to get the most out of your treatment program and optimize the speed of your healing.

👉 And it’s useful on its own to help your rib cage function better, to improve your breathing, support your nervous system for more calm, and to assist healing; and to help you feel more comfortable in your own body.

🤔So if you’ve been stuck in that stretching loop and you are still dealing with pain restriction or tightness, it’s time to do something different.

If you are interested in making a true change, check out my Ribcage Reset Minicourse, a practical step-by-step way to support your own body to heal itself.

Learn more by clicking the link below.

See you on the inside.

Got Questions?

So that’s it for today. Did it raise any questions or aha moments? If so, I’d love to hear them. So please put those in the comment section. I love answering questions. I hope you found today useful. And if you know someone who could use this information, please share it. Remember to comment, like and subscribe.

Until next time and in health, bye for now.

Click the Button Below for my RibCage Reset min-course

Interested in further reading?

1. 1. 1. Effect of Head & Shoulder posture on shoulder function
      2. Treating Diaphragm function helps improve Shoulder mobility and pain
      3. Relationship between Breathing Dysfunction and Scapular Mechanics
      4. Thoracic function improvemenmt with manual therapy improves subacromial pain/impingement syndrome
      5. Dysfunciton of scapular mechanics results in pain

About Blossoming Me

BlossomingMe offers a fully integrated approach to your wellbeing. Located on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Sarah is our Cranio-sacral and Remedial Massage Therapist and health and lifestyle coach. She can help relieve those problematic knots, tightness and other specific ailments to promote a healthy recovery. These complementary massage therapies can be combined to suit your needs, and include: craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure, reiki, remedial, swedish, and body-mind-massage. 

Our qualified Osteopath, Alexis, offers a drug free, minimally invasive, “hands on” treatment focusing on the musculoskeletal system with its associated muscles, tendons, ligaments, membranes, bones and joints. Alexis takes a functional approach. This means that she focuses on the way a component (body part, tissue or group of tissues) performs its role, as well as the way the body works, performs and integrates as a whole. Our team can support you to improve your posture and therefore your overall health.