Exercises for Winged Scapula
by Liz Brealy
Any ideas on what Pilates exercises I could perform to help this? I am in no pain. I have looked at the muscles in that area, Trapezius Lower, Rhomboids and Serratus Anterior and presume these will need working? Jennifer's Answer: Hi Liz and thank you for your question. I had this same problem when I first started my Pilates training. Both my shoulder blade's were winging out everywhere. I really had no control of the muscles that stabilized the scapula. Specifically, once I started using the spring tension doing the long stretches on the reformer they really wanted to pop out. The winging especially happens when you pop your ribs or lose your abdominal control to help stabilize the core including the ribcage and scapula. In Pilates the core involves stabilizing everything from the scapula to the glute folds at the base of the pelvis. Imagine your ribcage being stretched apart as you inhale and then knitted together as you exhale. Keep that knitted feeling now as you are exercising breathing in and out. This should not only stabilize the front of the body, but the upper back and scapula as well. Probably the best exercise to help strengthen and stabilize your postural muscles is the Serratus Anterior Cobra or Elbow Press. Lying prone you would press into your elbows and forearms to lift your head, chest, and ribs up off the floor keeping your scapula (shoulder blades) wide on your back. You can find this and several other exercises that work the muscles of the traps, rhomboids, lats, and serratus that stabilize the scapula here: Best Exercises for Shoulder Stabilization. Scapular Retraction and protraction exercises are especially helpful to bring awareness to the shoulder girdle complex. You can practice this lying or standing with your arms straight out from your chest drawing the shoulder blades towards the spine and then wide apart. And, find more shoulder exercises in my newly revised Shoulder Ebook here.
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