3 Muscles you didn't even know you had, and why they’re important

Joints are critically important, and if you’ve been around me long enough you know how critical it is to care for them – moving them into end-ranges and untouched “corners” throughout the day as often as possible so you don’t risk losing precious ranges and therefore increase your odds of injury to those joints. Muscles need work too not only in the form of strengthening exercises to keep them capable of moving the previously mentioned joints but also in the form of soft tissue release, stretching and proper activation. 

Below are 3 not-so-commonly known muscles that I run into frequently causing issues and dysfunctions with patients and how I (and you) can begin to work on them! ⬇️

Subscapularis 

The subscapularis, or subscap for short, is named appropriately. It sits beneath (sub) the scapula (scapularis), between the back side of the ribcage and the underside of the shoulder blade (picture attached below because that's super confusing in word form). The subscap is one of the four rotator cuff muscles that is responsible for internal rotation (think, dumping out a cup of coffee) and extension (think, reaching behind the seat as a dad for your kid to give you your “dad-tax” of their snack) so when it's tight for whatever reason, it can inhibit your ability to fully take your shoulder overhead 🙋🏾‍♂️. This is a muscle that will be a bit tender regardless of whether or not it’s an issue, but if one side is significantly more tender than the other, you may benefit from some work to this bad-boy. Here’s one of the ways you can release it yourself - taken straight from the Overhead Specific course for Mobility for Better Living and Lifting. 

Multifidi

The low back has layers and layers of muscles, tendons and ligaments keeping the vertebrae and discs moving and functioning as small sub-units within a greater whole called the lumbar spine. When one or more of these small muscles near the spine begins to dysfunction it can lead to persistent back pain. The multifidi is in the second deepest layer of muscles and runs from the vertebrae below to the one above and causes extension (sitting up straighter), rotation, and lateral bending of the spine. Commonly these shortened muscles can cause pain with sitting and flexing forward and if they don’t “let go” with repeated joint exercises, they need to be addressed in other ways, my favorite of which is dry needling.

Dry needling is great for these muscles because they are so deep and lie underneath other layers of muscles, so they are difficult to get to with a thumb or other instrument. Dry needling can get right down into the multifidi, unwind the fascia, cause some tissue micro-trauma, and a subsequent response of healing cells and blood flow to the tissues, and break the pain cycle right away to free up movement. The multifidi commonly acts up in response to the low back joints and discs feeling threatened from being in one position too much (most commonly, flexion from sitting for long periods, or repeated forward bending with loads) so my first go-to is always press-ups! If those and some other movement based strategies dont work, there is no better way to get down to the close layers of the spinal stabilizer muscles than dry needles.

Diaphragm

The diaphragm is a dome shaped muscle at the bottom of your rib cage that flattens as it contracts, causing a pressure change in the chest and abdomen, pulling air into the lungs. Upon relaxation, it springs back up in the center pushing air out of your lungs (exhaling during rest should be a totally passive event!). Its importance cannot be understated for issues ranging from headaches, anxiety, chronically tight traps, breathing issues, to low back pain. 

Breathing and stabilizing properly has an impact on how you function and move throughout the day and many people don't realize there's an optimal way. We breathe about 22,000 times a day on average! Your diaphragm should be the primary muscle of respiration or breathing, which means that when you breathe your shoulders and chest should not rise dramatically. If they do, you're using (secondary respiration) muscles around the shoulders, chest and neck to breathe which can contribute to tight traps and anxiety.These secondary muscles only need to be used when we are doing strenuous breathing like during a workout. Think about this – if you are hiking through the woods and a bear pops out of the trail, what will your reaction be? You’d likely gasp in a shallow breath, throw your shoulders and chest up in surprise and go into fight or flight mode. This is the same way your body feels when you're breathing this way 22,000 times a day, contracting these secondary muscles far more than necessary. Switching your breathing to the belly and bottom ribs, where your chest and neck are relaxed can help take you out of “fight or flight” and put you into a state of “rest and digest” instead, and give those secondary respiration muscles up top a chance to relax. 

❗️Try messing with this, sit in a chair fairly upright with your hips and knees bent to around 90 degrees and your back pressed flat against the back of the chair. Put one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. The first step is to not be actively sucking your belly inwards, so take a minute to relax your belly over your waistband. Now simply breathe, notice how and where your hands move and begin to try to focus on keeping the upper hand still and only moving the bottom hand on your belly. Think about drawing the air into your belly on the inhale instead of your lungs. This can be super awkward at first so give yourself some time to figure it out. 

These muscles are critically important and contribute to more dysfunction than any of the household names such as biceps 💪🏻, glutes, and quads 🦵🏽. Now that you know about them and some of the issues they can contribute to, you’ll be on the path to having healthier joints, AND muscles.