the doorway pec stretch is a very common stretch used to lengthen the
pectoralis aka the chest muscles but there are a few tweaks that we can apply
to make it much more effective and to make the gains that you get from it last
hey what's up it's Coach E here from precision movement and today I'm gonna
walk you through some upgrades that we can make to the classic doorway pec
stretch okay so the classic doorway pec stretch is where you're in a doorway
your arms are up and you're just walking through pushing through to stretch out
the pec muscles okay there are a few things that we're gonna do to it to
upgrade this okay so if you've been following precision movement and myself
for a while then you've probably come across something that I call the end
range activation sequence and this is a sequence that I applied to stretches to
build range of control okay not just range of motion increased flexibility
but range of control increased mobility because if we don't have the strength at
the range then we're not going to be able to maintain that range the
neuromuscular system will see that range as you know unstable and it'll just
tighten those muscles back up that you just stretched okay that's why static
stretching you have to do it all the time every day and then once you stop
the gains diminish but when you apply sequences like this which is the end
range activation sequence you're going to be able to make gains that last all
right so here's what you do classic doorway pecs stretch you step
into a doorway and hang out here for 30 seconds or so okay the end range
activation sequence what we're gonna do is we're gonna strengthen the muscles
that enter the range the muscles that exit the range and also the muscles that
stabilize the range and in this case it's the shoulder internal and external
rotators okay so we're gonna do a five-second hold for each element with
about five-second relaxation in the passive stretch to gain more passive
flexibility okay so what you do set yourself up I kept the elbows up a
little bit higher than the shoulders and I go the split stance and then I'm
in the passive stretch right here okay so first we're gonna apply the end
range activation sequence and contract the chest or the pec muscles themselves
so to do that we're gonna push into the door with my whole forearm for five
seconds focusing on firing up the PEC muscles and then I relax try to get a
little deeper into the stretch okay the next thing I'm going to do is I'm going
to lift the arms away from the doorframe don't change body position hold for five
seconds so now I'm contracting the delts scapular retractors and then I relax and
go into the passive range again okay so in the passive range again don't change
body position I'm gonna lift just my hand away from the door frame and fire
up the external rotators and I'm actively contracting for the whole five
seconds so I'm squeezing those muscles isometrically
and then I relax okay five-second relaxation and then one more I'm gonna
try to rotate my hand down this way okay so fire up the internal rotators elbows
might pop off the doorframe that's cool keep it tall for spine and relax into
passive range okay so it's about a minute you're in that position combining
all the contractions and the relaxations and that's gonna allow you to not only
improve the passive range because you're getting that passive stretch but to
build the strength in that range that you need to keep it okay so that's the
first upgrade to the doorway pec stretch next upgrade when you're in this
position and you're stretching make sure you're breathing and expanding the
ribcage so I teach it as 3d breathing so you're expanding the ribcage out in all
directions forward back out to the sides and all
so you're spending the diaphragm and the lungs are expanding up and down so the
diaphragms coming down when you inhale so expands everything the whole torso is
basically expanding okay so that's 3d breathing not just trying to bring the
belly out but the whole ribcage and because of the architecture of the pecs
the insert into humerus and they originate at the sternum so they cross
over the ribcage when you inhale through the ribcage and expand that whole area
it's gonna further stretch the pec muscles okay so 3d breathing deep
breathing don't hold your breath that's going to help to increase the
effectiveness of this technique okay so the last thing last little tweak here is
when you go into this position especially when you go into passive
range people have a tendency to extend their spine okay because the pecs are so
tight it basically just pops the spine into extension through the lumbar and
the thoracic area what you really want to focus on is keeping the abdominals
tight the lumbar spine in neutral and keeping the ribcage from flaring okay so
you depress the ribcage with the abdominals so you're here instead of
doing that and get the abdominals on and depress the ribcage so that you're not
going into extension of the spine and you can get a more effective stretch
through the pecs in case you're here and then your breathing and when you apply
those three elements the under-aged activation sequence the 3d breathing and
maintaining the ribcage depressed and preventing hyperextension of
the spine this stretch is going to be very effective for you okay so do that
up give it a try you can even compare do the classic way of just statically
stretching for a little bit couple days and then do the up created way with the
three techniques that I just showed you and you'll feel the difference for
yourself alright so if you want more good stuff like this make sure you
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