In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix latissimus
dorsi muscle pain for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
how to get quick and long-lasting relief for
latissimus dorsi muscle pain commonly known as the lat
muscle or the lats. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a
large muscle that covers the lower two thirds of your trunk
that runs to the backside of your arm and when this muscle
becomes strained and inflamed, it can cause a lot of issues
including pain on the backside of your shoulder that goes into
your shoulder blade even towards the upper and middle
backs and it's usually brought about because the muscle itself
is tight and weak. So, to fix this, I'm going to show you a
step-by-step guide that will help release, lengthen, and
strengthen these muscles. While each part is different, they
are meant to work together. So, to get the best results, go
through all three parts. As a bonus, all of the exercises can
be done at home and you may find give you quick latissimus dorsi
pain relief even within 30 seconds. So, let's get started
and fix lat muscle pain right now for good. So, let's start
with a warm up and muscle tightness release. Warming up
the muscles and soft tissue is really important before
exercising because it improves circulation, increases
flexibility, and makes it less likely that you irritate those
muscles later on and it usually feels pretty good. For this
one, we need something soft and round. A tennis ball works
perfectly but if you don't have one, no big deal. Just take
several large socks, roll them up into a ball should work.
We're going to go next to a wall with this one with our
painful side facing it and our painful side's arm going
straight upward towards the ceiling as much as we can. I
also like to lean my body slightly away from it. That way
we can lean into the tennis ball and apply enough pressure
as needed. So, the area that we're going to target is quite
large because the lat muscle is pretty large. We're going to
target below the armpit towards the side right here and then
we're going to work backward towards the outer edge of the
shoulder blade. I like to start right below the arm it. So, I'm
going to center it right over that spot, lean into it, and
then apply enough pressure where it's a comfortable self
massage. Once we have that set, we're then going to bend our
knees and then we're going to do a slight squatting motion up
and down. Let the ball glide over that muscle. Again, it
usually feels pretty good, a nice self massage but I'd like
to go over one certain area for about 15 to 20 seconds but if
you have a lot of tightness going on, you can repeat this
over and over again until that finally releases. And then from
there, you're just going to switch over different spots as
needed. You're probably going to find that one certain spot
is the hot spot. Maybe you have a big muscle spasm or trigger
point right there. At that point, you can throw more
repetitions in or you can attack the muscle fibers at
different angles. So, instead of going straight up and down
with it, go forward and backward, go diagonally with
it. Do circular motions. Any movement that works a little
bit better for you at that point, target it through that
and throw some more repetition in and then switch over
different spots as needed but if you do have one spot that
just will not release like let's say it's right here for
me we can take this one to the next level by doing this so I'm
going to press into that ball as much as I can straight my
other arm out in front of me like this and now I'm going to
turn and rotate my upper body moving through my shoulder
blades towards the other direction so really turning
towards the right this will really open up that lat muscle
and it can become very very sensitive. So, at that point,
what I'm going to do is go through my motions again. I'm
just going to go up and down with it. I can go forward and
backward. I can do circular motions and just really attack
those muscle fibers as much as I can and then from there, just
repeat and switch over different spots as needed. So,
after we have the muscles warmed up and all of that
tightness released, we're going to move on to strengthening
exercises which is by far the most important part. So, don't
skip this one if want long-lasting latissimus dorsi
relief, you have to make them as strong as possible. Here's a
daily strengthening exercise that you can do in bed but you
can also do this one on a floor. So, start off on your
stomach and position your body where your shoulders and head
are going to be off the edge. I'm going to go through three
different motions that are going to target the lats just a
little bit differently. So, the first one is called the
alternating bring back. We're going to do is bend your elbows
at 90 degrees and then your take your back side of your
hands right here and your elbows upward as much as you
can while pinching the shoulder blades at the same time you
should start to feel that lat muscle start to tighten really
focus on trying to squeeze and activate that muscle as much as
you can to start off with once you've done that what you're
going to do is now take one elbow you're going to bring it
up as much as possible and then back like this so up and back
when you do this you should start to feel that lat muscle
really start to hold this one comfortably for three seconds
you're going to relax and then you're going to repeat it on
the other side you want to do this one nice and slowly for 10
to 15 repetitions on both sides and with each repetition try to
build into it just a little bit more if you feel like you have
a little bit more energy you can always take this one to the
next level by throwing in another set or two but from
there we're going to move on to what is called the baby penguin
because I guess this is how a baby penguin moves. So again,
my shoulders and head are going to be off the edge of a bed but
I'm going to take my arms off to my side like this, palm side
up. What you want to do is take your palms and press them
upward towards the ceiling as much as you can and then from
there, I like to lift my shoulders and pinch my shoulder
blades in my back to start to activate those lat muscles.
Once you feel that, you're going to lift your chest up as
much as you can. Push your palms up and then slowly tilt
your body towards direction so I'm tilting a little bit
towards my left you should really start to feel those lat
muscles start to fire I like to squeeze them also at the same
time but I hold this position for three seconds and then I'm
just going to do it on the other side again you want to do
this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15 repetitions in
both directions build into it just a little bit more that
one's actually really challenging the last movement
is called the snow angel so imagine you're outside in snow
trying to do a angel with your arms but we're going to start
lying on our stomach for this one. Again, shoulder and head
off the edge of this bed. For this one, we're going to start
in that similar position as the baby penguin but what I'm going
to do this time around is I'm going to press up with my
palms. I'm going to squeeze my shoulder blades, lift my
shoulders up but I'm going to do a nice circular motion right
here with my arms. So, I'm going off to my side but as I
go off to my side and go forward with it, I'm going to
row rotate my palms so they're facing up and then once they're
all the way forward like this they're going to come down so I
just kind of go just like this and then I just go in reverse
just nice and slowly just trying to really lift my arms
and my palms up or towards the ceiling as much as I can I like
to do this one nice and slowly for 10 to 15 repetitions and
then afterwards again if you feel like you have a little bit
more energy try to throw in another set or two and the last
part we're going to focus on stretching. Stretches are
really important to do after exercises to keep the muscles
loose but also help avoid soreness but with stretching,
you can pretty much do them throughout the day anytime that
you need quick muscle pain or tightness relief. This stretch
right here, you can pretty much do anywhere including at work
or the gym. We just need something like a door frame but
you can also use a squat rack. So, whatever side that you're
having latissimus doorside pain, let's say it's my left
side. Straighten your arm on that side at your elbow and
then grip overhead as much as you can into the door frame.
So, you really want your hand above your head. From there, I
like to put my feet together and then with my hip, lean away
from that door frame to get an initial stretch off to my side.
So, use your or use your body weight to lean away from it as
much as you can. Once you feel that deep initial stretch,
we're going to take this one to the next level by putting some
more motions in there to get a better stretch. So, what I'm
going to do with my hips is now turn and rotate towards the
door frame. The more that you turn in and lean away, the more
that you're going to feel a deep stretch forming. I pretty
much feel it from my armpit going down towards my side and
then into my back towards my spine. Once you feel that, you
really want to deepen the stretch by leaning away from
the door frame as much as possible and at that point,
hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. So, the movement again is
leaning away initially, turning towards the door frame with our
hips and then leaning away again as much as we can. I like
to do this one for three to five repetitions and with each
repetition, build into it just a little bit more and then when
you're done on one side, switch to the other side to keep
everything in balance. So, here's another great way to
stretch the latissimus door side. We're going to do what is
known as a modified child's pose. For this one, we're going
to start off on a floor on all four. So, if you're doing it on
the floor, make sure to put a pillow or towel underneath your
knees for extra comfort. The movement is pretty straight
forward. Whatever side that you're having pain, let's say
it's my left lat. You're going to take the arm on that side
and what you're going to do is reach over towards the other
side really focusing on bending the upper body and moving
through your upper back and shoulder blades. So, reach over
as much as you can and then lower your hand down just like
this. You should feel an initial deep stretch forming
off to that side. Once you feel that, you're going to then take
your chin towards your chest and then lower your butt
downward towards your heels. The more that you lower
downward, the more intense that stretch is going to be felt
over that lat muscle, only go to your comfort level. You want
to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds and do nice, slow,
controlled breathing. From there, you're going to relax.
On the next repetition, try to build into it just a little bit
more. I like to do this for three to five repetitions and
then from there, I switch to the other side and repeat to
keep everything imbalance. If the exercises help, please
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can. Thanks for watching.