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Semispinalis Splenius capitis Splenius cervicis Levator scapulae Supraspinatus Rhomboids Infraspinatus Sternocleidomastoid Trapezius Fascia over infraspinatus Teres minor Deltoid Triceps brachii A Latissimus dorsi Teres major Erector spinae group Spine of scapula Serratus posterior superior C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 79 left lateral flexor and, therefore, would be more efficiently stretched if the client's trunk is in right lateral flexion, as seen in Image 9. Of course, there is a limit to the effectiveness of multiplane stretching toward making a muscle the shortest rope. If one of the client's hip flexors is extremely tight, it is possible that no matter what component joint action positions are added, that extremely tight muscle will remain the shortest rope and will limit our ability to stretch our target muscle. THE SHORTEST ROPE AT THE NECK The concept of multiplane stretching to create the shortest rope can be efficiently applied to any functional group in any region of the body, for example, the neck (Image 10). If we simply stretch a client's neck into flexion, then all extensors would theoretically be stretched (Image 11). If we add in a frontal plane component and stretch the client's neck into flexion plus right lateral flexion, we have now narrowed the stretch to all extensors that are left lateral flexors—located in the posterior left quadrant of the neck (Image 12). But what if our desire is to specifically stretch the left upper trapezius of the posterior left quadrant? Then, because the left upper trapezius is a contralateral rotator (i.e., a right rotator), we need to add ipsilateral/left rotation to the stretch (Image 13A). If instead we want to target the left splenius capitis or levator scapulae in the posterior left upper quadrant, then we would instead need to add contralateral/ right rotation because these muscles are ipsilateral/left rotators (Image 13B). Now suppose we want to distinguish between the left splenius capitis and left levator scapulae? At first, this might seem 10 Stretch the functional group of cervicocranial (neck/head) extensors by moving the client's neck/head into flexion. 11 Transition the stretch seen in Image 11 into a multiplane stretch by adding in frontal plane right lateral flexion. 12 The functional group of cervicocranial (neck/head) extensors. Image from Joe Muscolino's The Muscular System Manual: The Skeletal Muscles of the Human Body, 4th ed. ( Elsevier, 2016).