How to Fix Tight Shoulder Blades at Home (NO EQUIPMENT!)

in this video i'm going to show you how to fix tight shoulder blades at home using no equipment stay tuned hey everyone dr rowe coming to you from spike here in saint joseph michigan so if you're dealing with a lot of upper back pain or tightness even more so in between the shoulder blades and need a quick at-home fix this is a video that you're not going to want to miss i'm going to go over exercises that are going to hit the main muscle groups the main instigators of shoulder blade tightness and upper back pain so go through all of them and take what is most effective at getting rid of it as a bonus all of these exercises can be done at home don't require any special equipment and may give quick shoulder blade tightness and pain relief even in as little as 30 seconds so let's get started with them this shoulder blade stretching exercise we're going to need a flat elevated surface depending on your height level you can use a couch you can use the edge of a bed chair desk it all works we're also going to start off on our knees so make sure to put a pillow or towel underneath them for extra comfort let's go to that flat elevated surface what i'm going to do is bend the elbows like this place them on that surface for a nice stable anchor point i'm going to take my hands i'm going to place them on the back of the head just like this let's tuck our chin towards our chest from here what i'm going to do is very simple i'm just going to lower my body my butt down towards my heels the further that you go down the more intense the stretch is going to be felt in the shoulder blades so really challenge yourself to get the best stretch possible once we hit a very comfortable stretch hold this for 15 to 20 seconds try to focus on nice slow controlled breathing also let the tension out when you need to relax just come back up take a breather and then simply repeat this for five repetitions with each repetition just go a little bit further with it to challenge yourself again and get a better stretch you can also go at a little bit of an angle like this and experiment with it because you're going to notice that it really starts to activate those muscles just a little bit differently but go on both sides left and right and see if that targets that tightness in between the shoulder blades a little bit more and if it feels like it does throw some more repetitions in there to get a better stretch this exercise is what i like to call the wall circuit and it's a two-part process the first part we're going to do what is known as the windmill it's a very good stretching exercise that focuses on scapular movement along with upper back and shoulder movement what we're going to do is start off on our knee next to a wall so make sure to put a pillow or towel underneath that knee for extra comfort what i'm going to do is start off with my arm like this facing away from me i'm going to get as close to the wall as possible the movement from here is very simple like a windmill we're just going to go in an arc like this reach up as far as you're able to go and do a nice slow controlled arc all the way in front of you once we hit that point in front of us let's just go in reverse and do the same thing but when you do this you're going to notice that one certain angle really is tricky it feels very locked up for me it's about right here so what i'm going to do is stop right to that point i'm going to go down just a little bit and then i'm going to go back up and throw some repetitions in there until i feel it start to get stretched out and loosen up but you want to do five complete repetitions going all the way forward and then all the way back and really focus on movements that you feel need a little bit more challenge yourself to always stretch more into it with the second part i'm going to do a thoracic rotation so i'm going to take the arm like this and i'm going to face the palm towards me this time around i'm going to then take the other arm and it's almost like they're going to be overlapping to clap i'm going to lock this hand into the wall right here reach forward as much as i can and from there i'm going to take the other arm and just simply come back like this to the other side of the wall you're going to get a very good stretch into the upper back so only go to your comfort level but you want to do nice slow controlled movements back and forth for about five repetitions and also on this one if you do feel like one certain angle like right here is really tight throw a little bit more in there to stretch that movement out to build more mobility in between the shoulder blades but again whatever you do on one side always switch to the other to keep them both in balance so if you're dealing with a lot of upper back and shoulder blade pain from sitting for too long think hunch forward all the time here's a three part process that's going to go over a lot of dynamic motions that is a lot of movements to target many muscles in a short amount of time i'm going to be using a sturdy chair this one right here is just a metal folding chair i'm also going to place a towel over the back for extra comfort the first part we're going to focus on extension with a little bit of a self mobilization in there that might end with a satisfying crack or pop i'm going to go over the spot in between my shoulder blades that i want to target from there i'm going to press into it with my upper body weight i'm going to take my hands place them on the back of the head right here and then i'm going to wing my elbows down towards the floor when you do this it's going to stretch the chest in the front but it's also going to feel like there's a very good stretch in between the shoulder blades in the back it should almost feel like they're pinching together the shoulder blades so really focus on that once we had a very comfortable stretch hold this one for 15 to 20 seconds you can relax and then do this one three to five times with each repetition just go a little bit further with it challenge yourself to stretch those muscles out even more if you feel like this just will not release that tightness will not go away you can do a self-mobilization so i'm really going to press into it with my upper back as much as i can into the back of the chair let's wing the elbows down as much as we can to build initial tension that's very important and from there i'm just going to quickly wing my elbows back and i don't know if you heard it but i got a very good pop or self release into that area do not try to force that pop though if it's ready to go it will go and it's just gas is being released in the uh between the joints themselves for the second part what i'm going to do is what is known as the sprinkler so i'm just going to sit with very good upright posture like this in a chair and i'm going to pull my arms out in front of me like this let's tuck our chin just slightly towards our chest i'm going to take one arm out straight like this and go back as far as i can and when you do this you're going to really feel those muscles around the shoulder blades activate hold this position for about five seconds you're going to come back up and then you're going to simply use the other side or i should say go back on the other side and just do nice slow controlled movements on both sides challenging yourself to really bring that arm back as much as you can and when you do this if one spot definitely feels like it's locked up a little bit more on one side throw some more repetitions in there to target that to loosen it up five complete repetitions on both sides in the third part we're going to do what is called the figure eight stretch we're going to trace a figure eight using our elbows i think it's one of the more fun exercises to do what i'm going to do start with very good upright posture let's take our hands place them on the back of our head put our elbows together the two movements when we are tracing the top part of the eight we're going to go into extension that is bringing our head back we're also going to bring our shoulders back this will really stretch right in between the shoulder blades pretty much all the way down to the lower back for the lower part of the eight we're going to use flexion that is the opposite so we're going to lean forward into it almost doing like a nice chin tuck also let's start with the top part of the eight so we're going to go into extension it does not matter what direction you start with i'm just going to trace that eight when you get to the middle part and go to the lower part of the eight make sure to go into flexion with this one trace it and then once you hit the middle part again slowly go into extension nice slow controlled movements but you want to do this one for about five complete repetitions once you're done with that stop and switch directions and then at that point do this one again for five complete repetitions but again nice and slow if you do find that one certain movement or one certain angle just really feels tight let's say that it's the lower part of the eight going like this for me i just throw a little bit more rope or i should say repetitions in there to target that tightness and hopefully unlock that movement and get a lot of stiffness out of the upper back in between the shoulder blades so here is a quick and easy way to get rid of tight shoulder blades pretty much anywhere at home or at work all you need is a door or a wall it's known as a shoulder blade lift off and it's great because not only is it going to help lengthen and loosen up those muscles around the shoulder blades but it'll help strengthen them too to lead to better posture and hopefully a lot less issues in the future what i'm going to do is put my feet together they're going to be spaced about a foot and a half away from the door let's lean into the door with our upper body right in between the shoulder blades and when you do this too let's tuck the chin just for a little bit better posture into the neck i'm going to bend my elbows like this place them off to the side how we're going to do this exercise is i'm going to dry from my elbows into the door and when i do this i lift off when you do this also you're going to feel those muscles around the shoulder blades really start to fire so challenge yourself to go forward as much as you can once we hit a very comfortable activation of those muscles let's hold this position for 15 to 20 seconds from there you're just going to relax take a breather and then repeat this up to five times each time challenge yourself go forward as much as you can because it's only going to help strengthen and lengthen all of those muscles around the shoulder blades hopefully leading to better posture and less issues in the future this shoulder blade tightness exercise is known as the towel assisted thoracic rotation just sit at the edge of a bed you can also do this in a chair even at the edge of a couch let's have very good upright posture we're going to put the towel in between our knees squeeze into that towel this will help isolate the lower back from the upper back making this stretch better whatever side that we're focusing on take the other side's arm and hook onto that side's knee so my left arm is going to hook on the outside of my right knee if i'm focusing on the right side let's take the right arm bend it at the elbow take the hand place it on the back of the head like this so i'm going to squeeze in as much as i can and i'm also going to hook and pull with my left hand and then i'm going to rotate backward with my right elbow like this and when you do this it's going to feel like a very very great stretch into the upper back in between the shoulder blades only go to your comfort level hold this position for 15 to 20 seconds you're just going to relax take a breather and then repeat this for five repetitions with each repetition go back just a little bit further with it to make sure to stretch those muscles out even more when you're done on one side just simply switch to the other and repeat to keep them both in balance if you liked the video and got a lot of relief please show us your support by giving this video a like and maybe subscribing to our channel too if you have any comments or questions please leave them below i'll get back to you as soon as i can thank you for watching

Channel: SpineCare Decompression and Chiropractic Center

Views: 231,599

Keywords: how to fix tight shoulder blades, how to get rid of tight shoulder blades, how to treat tight shoulder blades, shoulder blade pain, how to relieve shoulder blade pain at home, shoulder blade pain treatment, shoulder blade tightness treatment, shoulder blade stretching exercises, exercise for shoulder blade pain at home, shoulder blade tightness exercise, tightness behind shoulder blade, tightness between shoulder blades, how to relieve shoulder blade muscle pain, spinecare, dr rowe

Id: 73-Q_s_eSns

Length: 11min 5sec (665 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021