Tense back muscles - lokking for right stretch

yirara

Another stretching question I'm afraid. Every now and then when I work out I get stiff, hurting muscles on my back, always on my shoulderblades parallel to the spine I'm warming up with some light cardio and dynamic stretching, and stretch extensively after the workout. But this seems to be a spot I cannot stretch decently. Any idea what might work? I do:

cats back and opposite, and that yogapose where you bend you back backwards while laying
move one arm across the chest towards the other side. this feels nice at my shoulderblades but hardly stretches anything where it needs to be
arm over shoulder
head in all directions
stretching torso sideways also feels very nice, but it's just not enough
lots of other things...

Any suggestions on how to prevent this pain?

Willbenchforcupcakes

What works best for me for that area - lie lengthwise on a foam roller, and slowly roll side to side. As the area loosens up, taking one arm at a time and working it through the full range of motion really helps. I've found this works better for me then any amount of actual stretching.

debubbie

One stretch that I like for my upper back area feels like you are giving yourself a big hug and trying to use your hands to grab your shoulder blades and pull them farther apart. I hold this for 20 seconds and then switch which arm is on top of the other in the hug. Another one is to get on my hands and knees and walk my hands as far out in front of me as possible while bringing my head and chest to the floor while sinking my butt to my heels. Those two really help for me to stretch out that area, you will have to see if they work for you.

Also, if that area still feels tight I will lay down on a tennis ball and slowly move side to side and up down around the shoulder blade area to help relieve some of the tightness in that area.

hotcoffee692

I totally agree about foam rollers and tennis balls, but if you don't have them handy, you might try a yoga stretch called "thread the needle": https://youtube.com/watch?v=nNICdJLGuAw

yirara

Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »

What works best for me for that area - lie lengthwise on a foam roller, and slowly roll side to side. As the area loosens up, taking one arm at a time and working it through the full range of motion really helps. I've found this works better for me then any amount of actual stretching.

Unfortunately I cannot get a foam roller where I live. I also wonder if that would work as my shoulder blades at that point stick out a lot and the tense spot is right in the shadow of that cliff which is my shoulder blade. I tried using a tennis ball, and it does hit the right spot occasionally, but more often than not it just gets stuck on those bones. I guess I'd need a sharp corner, not a foam roller, but a static foam triangle

yirara

debubbie wrote: »

One stretch that I like for my upper back area feels like you are giving yourself a big hug and trying to use your hands to grab your shoulder blades and pull them farther apart. I hold this for 20 seconds and then switch which arm is on top of the other in the hug. Another one is to get on my hands and knees and walk my hands as far out in front of me as possible while bringing my head and chest to the floor while sinking my butt to my heels. Those two really help for me to stretch out that area, you will have to see if they work for you.

Also, if that area still feels tight I will lay down on a tennis ball and slowly move side to side and up down around the shoulder blade area to help relieve some of the tightness in that area.

I'll try the double hug! Thanks a lot! I kind of do that with one arm, but it feels like that one just falls short of a good stretch there. I do the walking out stretch as well and it is nice!

yirara

hotcoffee692 wrote: »

I totally agree about foam rollers and tennis balls, but if you don't have them handy, you might try a yoga stretch called "thread the needle": https://youtube.com/watch?v=nNICdJLGuAw

I'll try that!

But first of all it's massages again today.