Spread Your Wings

By Julie Gudmestad

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The scapulae also make another set of movements you use in many yoga poses. When your shoulders are flexed-that is, when your arms are overhead-your scapulae must be in a position called upward rotation. It's easiest to understand this position of the scapulae by looking at a friend's bare back. When the arms are by the sides, notice that the medial borders of the scapulae-the inner edges-are parallel to the spine and the inferior angles of the scapulae-the bottom tips-point straight down. As the person slowly raises the arms forward and then up overhead, notice that the scapulae begin to rotate; the inferior angles point out to the sides so that the medial borders are no longer parallel to the spine. In this position, the sockets of the shoulder joints, which are a part of the scapulae, point up, allowing the arms to move toward vertical.

Unlocking Your Shoulders

If the scapulae don't fully rotate up, the limitation is probably caused by tightness in the muscles that rotate the scapulae down. You can see downward rotation if you again look at your friend's bare back when he is standing with his arms at his sides. As he brings his arms straight back behind him into shoulder extension, you'll notice that the medial border and inferior angle of each scapula pull in closer to the spine. This is downward rotation. The primary muscle that performs this action is the rhomboid, which sits between the spine of the upper back and the medial border of the scapula. If the rhomboids are tight and short, they will limit the ability of the scapulae to rotate up.

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