Friday, October 14, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder Girdle
 abduction and adduction

A useful thing to keep in mind going forward would be that ab is Latin for "from" and ad is Latin for "to." So for example, Poppy is talking about muscles ad infinitum means to infinity and beyond!

What movements happen at this joint?

The next two movements at the shoulder girdle are abduction and adduction. Abduction is when the shoulder blades are pulled apart, away from the body's midline. Adduction is when the shoulder blades are pulled together, towards the body's midline.

biggie abducts her shoulder blades biggie adducts her shoulder blades

We do a ton of work squeezing our shoulder blades together in Box's kettlebell camps. Modern life tends to make us slouch forward, which isn't good skating form. Strengthening your back muscles gives you a little extra help pulling that little bit of weight back with everything else into that good skater position, so you don't fall on your face!

What muscles make these movements happen?

shoulder girdle abduction shoulder girdle adduction

The muscles in your chest that abduct your shoulder blades are your serratus anterior and your pectoralis minor. Makes sense, right? When those muscles contract, they pull toward the front and pull the shoulder blades apart.

The muscles in your back that that adduct your shoulder blades are your middle trapezius and your rhomboid minor and major. Also makes sense! When those muscles contract, they pull toward the center of the back and pull the shoulder blades together. And you can see that the rhomboids being on a diagonal pull both up and in, so they both elevate and adduct.

What exercises make these muscles work?

So for your rhomboids, you're looking for exercises where you pull your shoulder blades together like chin ups or less impossibly bent over rows. Squeeze your shoulder blades for best results! For your pectoralis minor and serratus anterior, you're looking for exercises where you pull your shoulder blades apart like push ups— you contract those muscles and your shoulder blades pull apart when you push up— and also according to the book regular or incline bench presses and cable crossover chest flys. Which I don't do, I'm mostly a bodyweight gal with a little bit of kettlebell. The book also says pullovers for your serratus anterior, which I think could be done nicely with a kettlebell.