The infraspinatus and teres minor may not always get the spotlight, but they’re the unsung heroes of the rotator cuff!

These two little muscles do an amazing job keeping your shoulder stable. In fact, they’re the only external rotators of the shoulder joint, which means they work extra hard to balance out the stronger internal rotators like the pec major, lats, teres major, anterior deltoid, and subscapularis.

When working with these muscles, a great technique to try is called "goading." This just means using strokes from the outside (lateral) to the inside (medial) to help them shorten and become more contractible.

PS- Instead of creating more strength in the internal rotators encourage your clients to do some simple exercises which strengthen the posterior thoracic and scapular stabilizers

Subscap can be a tricky muscle to palpate and is an essential skill to have in treating shoulders. Watch the video and learn a fool-proof way of finding it!

Judy is a warm and generous 69 year old quilter who is coming to me for neck and shoulder issues. During the intake she told me she works with a personal trainer once a week. “That’s terrific!” I said. I’m always happy when people are committed to their self-care. I ASSUMED that her trainer had her doing scapulae stabilization exercises.

During our first session I discovered while trying to work with her subscap and serratus anterior that her scapula was so protracted and anteriorly tilted that I could barely palpate either muscle.

After our session I asked her some detailed questions about what exercises she was doing with her personal trainer. I showed her about five examples of scapulae stabilization exercises. “No, she doesn’t have me doing anything like that.” Judy said. “Ah, never assume!,” I thought to myself.

Below are some issues that arise when the scapulae are glued to the thorax:

• The scapulae are not able to glide on the thorax putting too much pressure on the shoulde
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Ellen, an experienced and skilled bodyworker for over 10 years sent me an email recently: “What’s the connection I feel between my hip and shoulder?”

I love that question and the answer is both for your clients and you! I’ll begin with a case history from a recent client:

Janet came to see me for painful flexion and external rotation in her right shoulder. She could flex to 180 degrees but it was painful.

One of the tests I did was for a high iliac crest. Her right hip was higher in both standing and seated. Before I did any work on her shoulder muscles, I corrected that misalignment with an MET technique. I retested her flexion and her pain decreased by 50%.

Let’s dig a wee bit deeper….

QL attaches to the anterior layer of the thoracolumbar fascia (TLF) and the iliac crest.  The diaphragm, and psoas  major exhibit fascial connects to this layer also.  The giant latissimus dorsi connects to the thoracolumbar fascia and the iliac crest. The thoracolumbar fascia is important in stab...