It’s all about the pecs!!
Did you know your pecs (Chest muscles) can impact your upper back and neck pain? Can impact your posture? Can impact overall how you are feeling?
What are your pecs and their role?
When it comes to the pec muscles there are two pec (or should I refer to them as Pectoralis muscles) muscles we would be referring to. The Pectoralis Major and the Pectoralis Minor, these two muscles together make up the muscle group.
The pectoralis muscles help control the movement of the arm in different directions. This meaning if the pectoralis muscles become tight and shortened the arm/shoulder would be pulled forward causing the shoulder joint to not sit in an upright position. With the shoulder joint sitting in a forward position it will start to cause tension through the back and neck muscles.
We find people that have more of a sedentary lifestyle can lead to that forward position of the shoulders and the pec tension.
Why are working on your pecs so important to your posture and upper back pain?
Majority of people think that when we have upper back pain we would need to focus on releasing the back muscles right?
Releasing the pecs and working on your pecs plays a big roll in helping you correct your posture and reducing upper back pain, even if you don’t feel pain or discomfort there. The pec muscles control the movement of your arm so if your pecs are tight causing your shoulder to roll forward it pulls on your back muscles causing you to fill the pain across your upper back. The upper back muscles are being strained and they have to work a lot harder, hence causing you upper back pain.
Self Care
Unfortunately our posture from sitting at a desk all day or sitting in a machine can really affect our upper back and neck pain. We need to start looking at the body as a whole and what is the root cause of the issue. Majority of the time we want to think about opening up through our pecs, creating some length and then strengthening the back muscles to help hold us up right. If you have a spikey massage ball you can use this to help release tight muscles in between treatments.
Next time instead of just thinking you need to treat the exact place where you are sore try thinking about the body as a whole and what else could be causing it.
Below we have provided some videos on how to release your pecs and some good stretches to do in between your treatments.
