Stop Stretching Your Pecs Like This!

How should you stretch your stiff and tight pec muscles? I find most people are doing this very incorrectly. Today we'll cover why the classic pec stretch you see people doing at the gym isn't a great idea and three ways to perform a more safe stretch.

1) Corner pec stretch
2) PVC pipe stretch
3) Rig stretch - the correct way!

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CORNER PEC STRETCH

Find a corner in the room you are in and place your arms out to the side in an “L” position. Place your hands on the walls and slowly lean into the corner. Make sure to keep your core slightly braced and back completely flat (no low back sag). This movement should bring out a good stretch in your chest if you have stiff pecs (especially the pec minor).

Be cautions not to push too hard with this stretch as doing so can place harmful forces on your shoulder joint. You should only feel a stretch in your pec muscles, not the front side of your shoulder!

PVC PIPE STRETCH

For some the previous stretch may be too intense. For this reason, we can modify it by using a PVC pipe.

Lie on a bench. With a PVC pipe (or broomstick) in hand, raise your arms with elbows straight over your head as far as you can. Keep your core braced to limit your low back from arching and ribs from flaring out as your arms move.

This should bring out a light stretch in your chest as your arms reach their end position over your head. Hold this low load stretch for 30 seconds. I caution against performing this stretch with a barbell or with a heavy object in hand as it can easily place excessive force on the shoulder joints. If you are feeling tingling or numbness down your arm/fingers, you are probably stretching too aggressively. You may also be demonstrating signs of adverse neural tension (which is another topic altogether).

RIG STRETCH

The big thing to remember when doing this stretch, is to not push aggressively. You should NOT feel this in the front of your shoulder but only in your pecs!

To read more on improving pec flexibility, check out this blog: https://squatuniversity.com/2018/09/14/improving-lat-pec-flexibility/

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