Hi guys, Jason from Mr. Physio here in Australia.
In this video, I will cover the 3 muscles that can make your posture worse.
The first one is the SCM muscle: 'sternocleidomastoid'
It starts from your collarbone all the way up to below your ear line.
It looks like a V from the front.
So if this muscle gets tight, they pull your neck forward, causing a forward head posture.
So, we're going to massage, do some active stretching and eccentric contraction.
You can use your fingers or knuckles or even a tennis ball for massaging. :)
Place your knuckle under your ear or behind the jawline, and apply a gentle pressure for 10 seconds, 3 times
You can move down along the muscle as well.
The second is 'cross fiber' massage.
Massage across your muscle fibers, to create more friction and warmth.
This makes everything more effective to do!
Gently go across the muscle fibers for 10 seconds 3 times.
You can, again, go up and down along the muscle.
Spend more time on tighter spots.
Next, is massaging and stretching, 10 times each side
The SCM muscle pulls your head down, and to the opposite side.
Then, only one side contracts.
This makes your muscle get stretched out if you do the reverse action. For example:
My left SCM gets stretched out when I bring my head back and rotate to the left side.
So do that stretching action, while pressing on to the muscle. that's a combination of massage and stretching
This is a combination of massaging and stretching.
Spend about 30 seconds or 10 times on each side.
Lastly we're gonna do eccentric contraction.
If you do the massage part only, your muscle is likely to go back to its tight status.
So you need to exercise them after massaging. Okay?
We're going to use your muscle, while it is being lengthened.
This is called eccentric contraction.
Put your muscle into a shortened position first.
Then, use the opposite hand to push your chin to the position where your left SCM is stretched.
But try to resist with your chin.
Aim for about 20 or 30% of your power.
In this exercise, your muscle tries to contract, but it gets lengthened at the same time.
This is called eccentric muscle contraction which is effective for lengthening muscle fibers.
We will do this one more time, working on my left side.
Here, I'm trying to resist my right hand push my chin to the left side
Don't rotate your body like I'm doing now.
Don't do it hard either! Just 20 or 30% of your power is enough to start with.
Your chest muscles are attached to collarbone, sternum and your upper arm bone.
Almost everyone has tightness in those muscles, because we do many things with our arms in front.
Also, when you sleep on your side, your chest muscles sit in a shortened position.
So, they get used all day long and are squashed during the night.
it's no wonder why they get tight!
I will show you how to loosen them.
Place your fist next to your armpit, and push against the wall.
It's better to do it against the corner of the wall or door frame.
Do it for about 30 seconds all over the muscles and then you can do cross fibre massage.
Massage across the pectoralis muscles for about 30 seconds.
So same as the first one, but move your fist up and down you can also use fingers or tennis ball.
Or, you can just rub around those muscles too.
Do more on tighter spots!
Do it as often as possible, and for as long as you can until it feels less painful and tight.
Next is massaging and stretching for about 30 seconds.
Get into the massage position, and from there, bring your arm backwards.
Also, bring your shoulder blade towards your spine, and then squeeze between your shoulder blades.
If you feel pain in your shoulders, keep your elbow below your shoulders.
In this action, you activate rhomboids which act against the Pectoralis muscles.
Then, your brain actually sends signals to your chest muscles to be relaxed that's called Reciprocal inhibition.
This is an effective relaxing technique.
Finally, we will do eccentric exercises to do a couple of sets, of 10 to 15 times.
Push your elbow and hand into the wall about 90 degrees or below.
Bring your body forward, while you keep pushing them into the wall.
Then, your pectoralis muscle contracts as you push the wall.
But, it has to be stretched out as you bring your body forward.
You can gradually increase to about 70% of your power, and you can go lower or higher if you don't feel pain.
When your head and shoulder get pulled forward because of those two muscles:
Suboccipital muscles will get shortened, too.
If they get tight, It can cause limited neck movements and even headaches.
To loosen them up:
Place your knuckle under your skull and gently press for about 30 seconds.
Don't push too hard as it's quite painful.
Spend more time on tighter spots and massage along your hairline all the way to your spine.
And then, you can move your knuckle up and down and side-to-side.
Do the whole muscles for about 30 seconds and next is massage and stretching for about 30 seconds
From the same position, move your head up and down inside the side tuck your chin in, making a double chin.
Do it gently for about 30 seconds. And of course spend more time on tighter spots.
This exercise also mobilizes your upper neck bones.
Basically, It is a combination of muscle massage and joint mobilization
The last one is eccentric contraction
Suboccipital muscles contract to take your head backwards.
If I push my hand forward while resisting it with my head:
Those muscles get stretched out while trying to contract.
This is an effective technique to lengthen the muscles. Do it gently!
So the hand is pushing your head with about 30 percent of your power,
While the head is resisting with about 20 percent if this is 100 percent
Only 20 percent of your full power is all you need
You also need to tuck your chin in while doing this exercise.
I finished with this exercise after massaging. 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.
Have your arms in a 'W' shape, and bend your knees.
Suck your belly button towards your spine.
This activate your core, and flatten your spine against the bed.
From there, tuck your chin in, as you push your whole head back into the pillow.
Then, you push your shoulders elbows and hands into the bed, with about 20-30% of your power.
Also, bring your chest towards the ceiling
Squeeze between your shoulder blades with your palms facing yourself.
Once everything is ready, slowly take a deep breath 10 times.
Expand your chest with deep breaths.
Keep pushing your head, shoulders elbows and hands backwards, back into the pillow and bed.
If you want to make it a bit difficult, you can move your arms up and down.
Again, keep pushing your everything back except your chest!
Breathe in as you go up, and out when you go down.
Do the first and second exercises ten times each, twice a day.
You can do it against the wall or driver's seat or the back seat of an office chair.
You can do it with your arms in if there is not enough space.
Do them as often as possible.
You should get into a habit of doing them.
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Thank you for watching! :)