Time to Get Depressed – Scapular Depression

Sadly a lot of pain and discomfort comes from not being depressed, that is scapular depression. Living and working in cubicles, at desks, staring at computers takes a toll on the body. To fix it we need to get depressed, and working on scapular depression.

The image below kind-a says it all – ugh!

Man Chain Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig

The office and other work environments are not kind to posture at all. If you were able to be the guy in the middle of this evolutionary chain – you’d still probably need some postural work. A large part of that postural issue is shoulder (scapular) position.

The problem is four-fold:

Spinal posture – Poor TS extension causes rib rounding. Scapula ride on the ribs, so it needs to be fixed first. Plus, this typically puts the head way forward and causes scapular muscles a lot of repetitive motion injury.
Sensory motor amnesia – Chances are, the victim here can’t even feel and thus can’t move their scapula well enough to be aware of or correct their scapular position. This is from ergonomics and poor postural behaviors while working.
Cumulative Injury (Repetitive motion injury) to the soft tissues. At a point, you body decides it needs to make this poor posture part of your permanent structure. Scar tissue begins to be layer down along the lines of stress and eventually accumulates to the point that there is more adhesions than muscle. Makes it hard to move and feel well moving to encourage training this problem away.
Other issues need to be addressed – eye strain, ergonomics, and just plain fatigue.

Get Depressed With These Exercises

Spine Movements

Spinal twists
Thoracic gliding
Cervical Spine Gliding (Chicken)

Shoulder Movements

Scapular Cam Shaft Drill
Stretches for levator scapula
Towel Stretching
Skin the Cat – towel, bands, sticks

Strength Training For the Scapula

Dynamic Blackburns
Wall slides
Kettlebell Arm Bars
Kettlebell Windmills
Kettebell Turkish Getups
Rows

Stop the Pain and Get Depressed

Avoid the pain of working at a desk or computer for long hours by focusing on your shoulders. Spend time to work on the movements in the spine and shoulder as well as building up a foundation of strength in the shoulders. That work will pay off by helping your shoulders to stay in proper position – depressed. As the scapula stays in a depressed position it functions properly and without pain.

So get depressed, scapular depression.