Massage & Bodywork

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2022

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L i s te n to T h e A B M P Po d c a s t a t a b m p.co m /p o d c a s t s o r w h e reve r yo u a cce s s yo u r favo r i te p o d c a s t s 19 From here, the focus is on two things: Your ability to isolate the serratus anterior so you can give it the proper work (or love) it needs, and your client's ability to recognize how awesome this muscle truly is. Because if they are convinced that it's wreaking havoc on their shoulder, that perspective isn't going to help anyone. But if they understand it for its unique capabilities, perhaps they will begin to see what has been invisible yet in front of them the whole time. The relationship your client develops with their own serratus anterior rests in your hands. And although they may have been convinced it is good for nothing, perhaps a glimpse through your eyes will help them see it is actually good for so many things. Allison Denney is a certifi ed massage therapist and certifi ed YouTuber. You can fi nd her massage tutorials at YouTube.com/ RebelMassage. She is also passionate about creating products that are kind, simple, and productive for therapists to use in their practices. Her products, along with access to her blog and CE opportunities, can be found at rebelmassage.com. depending on how you look at it. Its complicated location and attachment sites make for a confused understanding of its position in time and space. And its list of actions make for an even more confusing ability to make it fire. It can lock up, become weak, adhere to neighboring tissues, and take control of the largest f loating bone in our body. Or, on the f lip side, it can dance and perform tricks right up there with the best of them. I would argue that seeing it from the latter perspective might just be a critical element in easing it out of dysfunction. Try this: With your client supine and draped well, access the right serratus anterior by standing on your client's left side and reaching across their body. Have them hold their own breast drape to ensure safety and bring their left arm off the table and across their chest so they are at 90 degrees of shoulder f lexion, 90 degrees of internal rotation, and 90 degrees of elbow f lexion—a little bit like a Britney Spears pose in pretty much any of her videos. Have them hold their arm up in this pop-star position while you palpate the lateral scapula. Grabbing the tissues here will offer you a clear navigation of the varying layers. From most superficial in the palm of your hand, you will first feel the latissimus dorsi, then slightly deeper at the inferior lateral scapula lies the teres major, and at the superior lateral scapula lives the teres minor. With these muscles in your palm, use your thumbs to sink around them and down toward the table into the anterior scapula, where you will feel the subscapularis. Then, shifting your intention to the rib cage, you will find the serratus anterior. With your right thumb in the serratus, use your left hand to offer a resistance. Have your client make a fist and push into your f lat palm. You can ask them to pretend they are throwing a punch. But in the effort to show your client what is good about this muscle as opposed to how it can act aggressively, you may instead ask them to imagine that they are hugging someone they love. This creates the desired protraction of the scapula, which calls upon the serratus to do what it does best. VIDEO: "SERRATUS AND INTERCOSTALS WITH A DIAPHRAGM CHASER" 1. Open your camera 2. Scan the code 3. Tap on notification 4. Watch! The serratus anterior is a muscle located in an area that teeters on the edge of being either very cool or very troublesome, depending on how you look at it.

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