3 Chest Opening Moves to Do Before Yoga

I love seeing how proactive the fitness community has become in the wake of our Coronavirus quarantine. I’m seeing virtual classes popping up all over the place! What a blessing that we live in this tech savvy world and we can provide ourselves with the opportunity to move, recover, and stay fit at home.

Still, many of us are sitting more than we normally would right now. It can be a challenge to keep great posture while sitting (I had to correct myself slouching a little as I wrote that) and the more you slouch and round your shoulders forward, the more your fascia begins to tighten in an imbalanced pattern. From downdog to wheel, shoulder mobility and the ability to open up your chest is key for improving form, strength, and preventing injury. So before you go from sitting all day to hopping on your yoga class stream, check out these moves!

What happens when you sit all day with poor posture/rounded shoulders?

Before we dive into the techniques, let’s have a quick chat about what happens when you sit slouched with your shoulders rounded forward. Over time, the fascia can start to shrink and stick together in your chest, front part of your neck, and shoulders. This is a typical fascial response when holding any prolonged positions!

When fascia begins to shorten and become restricted in the front part of your upper body, it begins to pull on the fascia in the upper back. Think of it like a t-shirt. If you start grabbing and bunching up the front of the shirt, the fabric over your back starts to tug and stretch. The tighter your chest muscles, the more overstretched the muscles in your upper back are becoming. This can cause two main issues:

The first is that your nervous system will detect something is out of alignment and that your spine could potentially be in danger if you continue to round forward. So the brain will send a message to the fascia to lock down in your upper back to prevent further stretching. Your upper back fascia and muscles will be “locked long” and start to function more like a strap (Anatomy Trains, Thomas Myers) holding you in this poor position instead of expanding and contracting like normal muscle.
The longer and more stretched out those muscles are, the weaker they become. If they are locked in the long position, you will have trouble getting them to fire at full capacity, plain and simple.

If your chest is tight and your back muscles are weak/acting like a strap, this could be preventing you from nailing the perfect form, getting stronger, and setting you up for an injury!

3 Chest Opening Moves

Good news! You can release the fascia in your chest and encourage back muscles to return to their proper function with a few techniques. Fascia responds well to compression and ACTIVE movement. That means sinking into a particular area of density or tightness and while holding that position, you move. Here are my top 3 moves to open your chest before you begin your class. I recommend doing them in this order!

1. Lacrosse Ball Pectoral Release: There is a pocket of muscle and fascia in between your clavicle, humerus, and your ribs. That is where you want to place the lacrosse ball, NOT on any bones. Lean into a squat rack or doorway with as much weight as you can, then move your arm slowly (as to keep the ball in the same spot without rolling or sliding). I recommend reaching over your head, rotating from your shoulder, and if you have the room internal/external rotation.

Move around on that spot for 30-45 seconds then switch sides. I recommend 2 rounds in each spot. (Note: you can also use a tennis ball or other fascia release tool. Personally, I prefer the lacrosse ball’s density and grippy outer layer)

2. Self Clavicle Release: Use the fingertips of the hand opposite of the side you want to work to find a spot right below your clavicle (again, you do NOT want to be the bone). Using 2 or 3 of your fingertips, lightly pull your tissue away from the clavicle first, then press inward and gently pin that tissue to the ribs. It should be light pressure! A pound or 2 of weight will be plenty. The objective here is once you create that pin with your fingertips, keep your tissue in that exact same spot as best you can.

Now slowly and gently move your head. If you have a good pin, you should feel a stretch happening from the spot pinned all the way up through your neck and even potentially in your jaw. Slowly nod up and down, turn your chin towards the opposite shoulder, or even jut your jaw out to stretch this area. Move around for about 30-45 seconds and switch to the other side. I recommend 2 rounds in each spot.

3. Thoracic Extensions with a Foam Roller: Now that we’ve created more space into your chest, let’s get a deeper stretch while encouraging those back muscles to get moving. Place the foam roller across your mid back and place your hands behind your head to support your neck. Take a deep breath in through your ribcage, and on your exhale let your upper back extend back towards the floor. The most important part of this is to let your gravity and your upper back do the work here. You do NOT want to compensate for that extension with your lower back.

Hold that extension for one more inhale/exhale, and return to your starting position. Reposition the foam roller to a spot slightly higher towards your upper back and repeat. I recommend 3-4 total spots. Please note you need to stay between your mid and upper back for this to help your thoracic spine. I never recommend doing this exercise on your lumbar spine.

Fascia release can improve circulation so please note it’s common to feel the warm and tingly sensation of blood flow after you do these! Increased blood flow will help warm up your muscles before your workout, as well as help your body detox. Now off to class you go, my little yogi!

(Need more help with shoulder pain or any other aches and pains you feel with yoga? Check out Pain Liberation Academy! This virtual academy gives you simple, follow along programs for plantar fasciitis, low back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, sciatica, and more that guarantees you'll feel a significant difference in your pain in as little 30 days.)