Wisdom of the Week: Lat Mobility Partner Smash

In this day and age, everyone’s favorite mobility equipment is the foam roller. Using that dense pieces of foam to smash your sore areas to smithereens hurts, but brings about a great sense of relief. But what happens when the pain is too great, and you just can’t seem to torture yourself anymore? Or when you're on the go and don't have equipment?

Enter the partner smash. Personally I am a big fan of partner smash exercises, as it takes the intensity out of your hands. In this way you can focus on relaxing the muscles and letting your partner do the work. This in turn allows for a deeper massage and greater benefit in releasing tension from inflamed fascia and loosening the area in question.

Here for the lat smash, lay on your back with one arm extended over your head. Your partner should use the heel of the hand aggressively against the insertion of the lat, starting almost in the armpit region. They should knead the muscle down towards the floor as if they are trying to push the lat off of the ribcage all together. This should occur for a good period of time, at least 2 minutes, before switching to the other side. Repeat as necessary until range of motion is renewed. For this and other how to videos, visit our youtube page, and check in on social media every Wednesday for our Wisdom of the Week! In the meantime, check out the trip calendar down below as you start thinking about your 2018 adventures...and as usual, email with any questions, thoughts, or just to say "Hi!" at staff@voyedgerx.com.