In this video, I'm going to show you how to safely crack
your back between the shoulder blades. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
really easy exercises that are going to help open up the back
between the shoulder blades to hopefully give us a nice pop,
crack, or release. All of these exercises work just a little
bit differently. So, to get the best results, go through them
all and use what gives you the most relief. As a note, these
are not chiropractic adjustments. They don't serve
to replace chiropractic adjustments. Instead, they're
simple stretching exercises that may in a satisfying
self-pop crack or release. So, with that being said, let's get
started. So, here's a really easy way to open up your back
in between the shoulder blades to hopefully get that self-pop
crack or release that you are looking for. This one, we're
going to start at the edge of a bed and put a pillow or towel
right over the shoulder blade region. From there, I'm just
going to scoop back until the one spot that I'm really
focusing on is right at the edge of that bed. I'm then
going to put my hands on the back of my head for bit more
support and then now I'm going to let gravity do all of the
hard work. Just allow your head and shoulders right here to go
downward towards the floor as much as you feel comfortable.
What you're going to notice right over that spot at the
edge of the bed will start to open up and you might get a
sudden pop or release in there and if that's the case, you're
good to go. But if it doesn't release, it may take a little
bit more time. So, what you want to do is just allow a deep
stretch to over that area for about 20 to 30 seconds. Just do
nice, slow controlled breathing. Relax into it as much as you
can and you may notice that it will finally go, but from there
I just relax and you can do another couple repetitions
until you finally feel that it does open up and release. From
there, I just switch over different spots. You can go up,
you can go down.Target any spot that you feel needs it. If you
would like to take this one to the next level, like it's right
about to release but it's not quite there yet. You can put a
little bit more of a passive motion in there to help open it
up. So, what I'm going to do is get right back into that
original position over the spot that I'm focusing on and this
time around, I'm just going to gently wing my elbows right
here downward towards the floor. I don't know if you
heard it over the microphone, I got a really good release right
there with that one. But it's just a nice, gentle winging
motion. We're not trying to slam our back into this or try
to force it open. This should not cause discomfort but just
do a slight winging motion right here for a couple
repetitions and again, from there, you can just switch over
any different spots as needed. So, here's a great shoulder
blade opener that you can do throughout the day. It's really
good for just releasing a lot of muscle tightness and joint
stiffness especially if you feel like you've been sitting
forward in bad posture throughout the day. You're
going to start standing with very good upright posture. Take
your hands, place them off to your side like this and then,
push your shoulders backward reaching behind you as much as
you can. The focus is to open up the chest to begin with. So,
really try to stretch into it until you feel a very deep
activation of those chest muscles. Once we feel that,
we're then going to make fist and then put our fist right on
the small of our lower back. The movement from here is very
easy. What we want to do is wing our elbows backward while
pressing into our lower back at the same time and then taking
our chest forward kind of like forward and up at the same
time. You'll feel a deep stretch forming in the upper
back in between those shoulder blades and if it is locked up,
you might get that sudden pop or release that you're looking
for but if you don't, hold this one comfortably for about 15 to
20 seconds. From there, just relax. On the next repetition,
try to build into it just a little bit more and I try to do
this one for about three to five repetitions. This is what
I call the schoolhouse popper because I'm sure I'm not the
only one that figure this out during grade school. We need a
sturdy chair. One with a solid backing. A metal foldable chair
works perfectly. A pillow or a towel and place it right here
at the top for extra comfort. From there, I'm just going to
scoot towards the edge of the chair and then place the spot
in between the shoulder blades that I'm focusing on right at
the edge at the top of that chair. From there, I'm going to
take my hands, put them right on the top of my head just like
this. We want to start off by opening up the chest and
pinching the shoulder blades to activate some muscles. So, I'm
going to just bring my elbows backward like this, winging
them backward until I feel the chest start to O up and then my
shoulder blades pinch. From there, I want to build my back
into extension. That is a backwards movement like here to
help open up that spot. So, let's wing the elbows back as
much as we can and then we're going to bring our shoulders
down into the chair just like this. You're going to feel a
deep stretch form over the spot that is over the top of the
chair. It usually feels really really good and if it is locked
up, you might get that sudden pop, crack, or release that you
are looking for but if you it might take some time. So,
stretch into it for a comfortable hold for 15 to 20
seconds. From there, you're just going to relax, take a
breather, and then on the next repetition, try to stretch into
it even more. Do this for about three to five repetitions and
again, once that relaxes, you might get that sudden pop or
release that you are looking for. From there, I'm just going
to switch over different spots and repeat. If you do feel like
it just needs to release but it's just not quite there yet,
you can take this one to next level by putting a little bit
more of a passive motion in there. So, let's get back into
that original stretch like this but what I'm going to do is
just gently wing my elbows back. I don't know if you just
heard it over the microphone. Got a really good one right
there. I just wing my elbows back gently like this to help
open up the back just a little bit more and you may find that
it finally gets it to crack or release but don't try to slam
your back into this or try to force anything or go into pain.
If it wants to go, it will go. So, one of absolute easiest and
most satisfying ways to self crack your upper back in
between the shoulder blades is by using a foam roller foam
rollers are really easy to find you can get them locally at any
sporting goods department if you would like to get one
online I will leave a link in this video's comment section
for this exact one I'm going to be using a standard twenty-four
inch high density foam roller so let's start off on the floor
and then I'm just going to position my foam roller right
at the bottom of my middle back we're only going to focus on
the mid to upper backs. We're going to stay off the lower
back because it can cause discomfort foam rolling the
lower back. Once we're in position, I'm going to take my
hands and then I'm going to put it right over the back of my
head. I want to start off by just lifting my bottom upward
towards the ceiling and then putting my body weight onto my
heels. The movement from here very easy. We're going to use
our legs to slowly roll from the bottom of the mid back all
the way up to the upper back really going over those
shoulder blades. And if it's locked up, you may notice a
nice snap, crack, pop going on with it but just go nice and
slowly as much as you can and I like to do this one for about
three to five complete repetitions. If you do want to
increase the intensity of this rolling motion, wing your
elbows downward towards the floor while you do it. Kinda
like lifting the chest almost upward towards the ceiling and
it will intensify that stretch just a little bit more. If you
want to take this one to the next level in focus a little
bit more off to the side especially if you have rib pain
going on. Here's a simple way to be able to do that. So, you
give yourself a bear hug. You just reach across like this and
really try to hug yourself as much as you can expanding those
shoulder blades. Once you feel that, you're going to tilt
towards one side. So, in this case, I'm just angling my body
a little bit towards my right and then, I'm just going to
roll right over those muscles of the shoulder blade and it
usually feels really really good. This one's for muscle
knots and again if you actually have a rib that feels like it's
out of place you might get that once you pop right back in but
same thing just roll up and down nice and slowly and then
from there you can just switch to the other side and repeat if
you feel like one spot is just really locked up and it just
doesn't want to release do this method so what I'm going to do
is go right over that spot let's say it's like right here
for me I'm then going to take my hands place them right
behind my head and then I'm going to build into extension
as much as I can. So, I'm going to lower my head and then lower
my elbows downward towards the floor. Really giving a very
good stretch into my chest, pinching those shoulder blades
until I feel those muscles really start to fire. Once we
feel like it's on the verge that it almost wants to pop at
this point, we're going to put a little bit of a passive
stretch in there by then winging our elbows downward
just like this. Just very gently. We're not trying to
slam our back into this one or force it open. Just a nice,
gentle winging motion. And if it is locked up, you might get
that sudden pop crack release that you're looking for but if
it doesn't, throw in about five to 10 repetitions just very
very slowly. It might take a little bit of time for that
muscle to release to be able to get it to release and then from
there, you can just switch over different spots as needed. So,
here's one of my favorite stretches. I personally do this
one at the office all the time and it will open up the upper
back like nothing else. It's known as a doorway YUW. We just
need a doorway for this exercise. I'm going to put my
legs together and then I'm going to reach upward towards
the corners so my arms are roughly in a Y shape. The
movement from here is very easy. We're going to lean
forward with our body weight as much as we can. You're going to
feel the chest start to get a very good stretch but more
importantly, in between the shoulder blades and if it is
locked up, you might get a sudden pop or release with this
one but go towards a comfortable stretch, hold this
one for 15 to 20 seconds, you're going to relax. From
there, we're going to go into a U position, kind of like a goal
with our arms. So, our elbows are bent roughly at about 90
degrees and then you're just going to repeat this exercise.
This time around, you're really going to feel the muscles fire
a little bit differently. Even more so, try to squeeze those
shoulder blades in the back and usually feels really really
good. 15 to 22 second hold, you're just going to relax. With the
last position, we're going to take our elbows down towards
our body to create a W and then repeat. Again, the muscles get
hit just a little bit differently. So, I try to do
this one nice and slowly for about three complete
repetitions and you're going to notice that one position just
hits the upper back a little bit better. At that point, you
can throw some more repetitions in and I really do hope that
this one opens up that back and you get that satisfying self
pop crack or release that you're looking for. If the
exercises help, please support the channel by giving this
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comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll get back
to you as soon as I can. Thanks for watching!