May 9, 2016
#8 Upper Trap Dominates Latissimus Dorsi
Take a look around. Do you ever see people with shoulders rounded forward living up in their ears? Nah hardly ever:) Welcome to modern day human cashew posture.
Forward flexion society is the new norm. Hunching over phones and desks for endless hours sets up repetitive motion chaos for the body. Adaptation to the stress response of the modern external environment breeds compensation layers. Think tight muscles, aches, pains, etc.
How often do you see people open up into a power extension posture? Shoulders down and back, walking tall, feeling lean and mean? Probably have to squint. You just might see them and a Unicorn too.
The human cashew posture annihilates thoracic spine extension and the ability to efficiently rotate the torso. Rotation (transverse plane) is highly energy efficient and less costly for the body to generate, absorb, disperse and release force. When you lose it the body doesn’t like it. What force? Gravity! And it’s a relentless bitch. Never stops crushing down on you 24/7.
The latissimus dorsi is a primary player in the Posterior Oblique Subsystem of movement and generates force from the backside. If the lat is weak and dominated by the upper trapezius you lose strength and power.
Try this.
Put your feet together so they touch. Keep your shoulder back and down, then twist from left to right. Now shrug your shoulders towards your ears and twist again. Which one felt harder? Lack of thoracic spine mobility kills the shoulder. Decreased rotation means less engagement of the latissimus.
Extends the head and neck. Laterally flex the neck to the same side. Rotate the head and neck to the opposite side. Elevates the scapula. Upwardly rotates the scapula. It’s a busy little sucker! Look how much control this part of the trapezius has over your cranium.
Extends the head and neck. Laterally flex the neck to the same side. Rotate the head and neck to the opposite side. Elevates the scapula. Upwardly rotates the scapula. It’s a busy little sucker! Look how much control this part of the trapezius has over your cranium.
Extends the shoulder. Adducts the shoulder. Internally rotates the humerus.
Lats are powerhouse drivers for performance and function. They are often weak which makes your traps work harder. That makes you overall weaker and slower. That’s bad. 🙂
SHARE THE MOJO
Next up levator scapula dominates SCM