Relieving Muscle Knots in the Back

If you have an annoying muscle knot in between your shoulder blades and spine,

and

despite trying to stretch it or roll it out,

it doesn't seem to get much better,

here's what's likely going on and how you can fix it.

When tissues in between the shoulder blade and spine get tight and compressed, it

pulls the shoulder blade closer to the spine and holds it there.

Now, not only is this problematic for our

shoulder's ability to move and

function effectively like this, but also it limits this space's ability

to open up with the breath. See, what a lot of people don't realize is

that with

every single breath that we take, we should be getting a little bit of

expansion in

between the shoulder blade and spine.

This back ribcage expansion is actually really important for a healthy

shoulder because it serves as a little bit of a micro decompression with every

breath that we take. If we lack this expansion,

then the shoulder essentially gets

stuck, glued on the back ribcage, pulled closer to the spine,

and then these knots

can much more easily develop. So here's a really simple

and easy way you can start

to open up and decompress this space in a very targeted way, and

thereby getting relief from those muscle knots you feel in this area.

For this, all you're gonna need is a book about two inches thick.

Place the book underneath the hand of the side you want to release the muscle knot

on, and then get in an all fours position with

your hands underneath your shoulders

and knees directly underneath your hips like this.

Now unlock your elbows just about 5 to 10%.

The next action is key. You're going to reach through the

floor, keeping your elbows very slightly bent,

and try to separate your shoulder

blades away from your spine into what we call protraction.

Doing this should give you a very, very slight sense of a stretch in between

your shoulder blades and spine. Now the space is open and the rest

is easy.

All you're gonna do is very gently exhale through your mouth

with an open mouth and

relaxed jaw like this

for about five to 10 seconds. At the end of that five to 10 seconds,

you're going

to feel your side abs or your obliques engage.

Hold that, pause, and close your mouth, maintaining that very gentle reach through

the ground. Then inhale through your nose, letting the air

fall into you, not trying to force the air in.

Let it just gently enter through your nose as you maintain a little bit of that

side ab tension.

If you do it right, you're going to feel

that space right in between the shoulder

blades and spine naturally expand, and it'll feel really nice.

The key is not to force it though, because if you try to force it,

you're gonna end

up just creating tension, and tension restricts

that natural expansion.

Do this for two sets of five to ten breaths.