Does The Action Of The Latissimus Change When The Elbows Bend?

Transcript of: Does the action of latissimus change in backbending when the elbows bend?

All right, we’ve got a really complicated question this month from Marina. It’s about the action of latissimus. So put down your phone. Put down anything else you have. You’re going to have to pay attention to this one. Marina’s done a bunch of my classes. She really appreciates the anatomy, all that kind of good stuff. So listen to the question.

The Question:

She says: In a handstand, the main muscle hindering shoulder flexion to its max range is the action of lats (latissimus dorsi), as they are shoulder extensors. So in our training, we spend a lot of time opening and strengthening them. In a backbend workshop, the trainer said that lats do not affect shoulder flexion when the elbows are bent overhead.

So, say in a king pigeon preparation, we focus on opening the pecs (pectoralis major) rather than the lats. But the pecs are creating the flexion, not resisting it? [DK: I’ll say that one again.] But the pecs are creating the flexion, not resisting it? Or is it because the spine is now an extension, so the front body is lengthening?

[DK: The big question] Why do the lats lose resistance when the elbows are bent overhead? [DK: Now you see why I told you to put your phone down.] Which muscle is now resisting the shoulder flexion? Based on this joint positioning minus the backbend, this should then apply to pincha mayurasana, as well? Can you please clarify? Please? Thank you.

The Answer:

Yes. Okay. Okay. Like I said, it’s a very complicated question. Let’s take this piece by piece. So yes, the lats are—remember their nickname is the swimmer’s muscle. So they, from a flexed position, extend the arm, which is to bring it back to anatomical position. They’re adductors, and they are internal rotators. So if you think about a crawl, they kind of do all of those motions. That is why it’s called the swimmer’s muscle and why swimmers have very large latissimus muscles. Okay, that’s all true. Therefore, when you go to flex your arm, the action of latissimus can provide resistance.

Shoulder joint and shoulder girdle

There’s one thing that’s missing in all of this. The conversation keeps talking about shoulders specifically, but you also have to think of the shoulder girdle and the shoulder girdle movements. Okay. Because it’s not just shoulder flexion, it’s shoulder flexion and extension. And, that’s often while the scapula is also upwardly rotated or potentially downwardly rotated at some point. Right—or elevated or depressed. So you have to factor that into all of this.

What about bending the elbow?

But I want to zero in on one thing. It was one question Marina asked, which was, why do the lats lose resistance when the elbows are bent overhead? They don’t. I don’t know if you misheard what was being said there. I honestly have no idea. In order for a muscle to directly affect a joint, it has to cross that joint. There could be some indirect tension or resistance going on, but the lats don’t cross the elbow joint. They go to the top of the head of the humerus. So they’re not directly impacting that because there’s a muscle that’s missing from your conversation.

Pectoralis major

But before I get there, you said, but the pecs are creating the flexion, not resisting it. The pecs do both because they’re so large, and they have sort of upper fibers and lower fibers, just to keep it simple. So from a flex position, they will also extend the arm. And from a neutral position, they will flex the arm. So different fibers of the same muscle do opposite actions. That’s a clarification I really wanted to make.

This is not the only muscle to do that. Trapezius does the same thing. The bottom part of trapezius depresses the scapula. The upper part elevates it. So in that sense, they can fight against themselves. Not that they do that often, but just saying.

Triceps

The muscle that you are not including in your question about the action of latissimus, and your investigation of this, is triceps. Most people forget about triceps, whether it’s in a backbend or kapotasana or something like king pigeon where you’re trying to reach your arms back. The triceps crosses the elbow and the shoulder just like the quadriceps cross the hip and the knee, just like the hamstrings cross the hip and the knee on the back, and just like the biceps cross the shoulder and the elbow on the front. So when you lengthen one end of your triceps, it becomes harder to lengthen the other end. This is the more likely culprit in what you’re experiencing when trying to do king pigeon.

Serratus anterior

Okay. Now, I don’t want to unpack all of it because I think I’ve covered enough of all of that stuff. You do ask about pincha. So the other thing I just want to point out is, in order to reach back, you need the scapular movement. What’s the scapular movement to reach back in something like king pigeon? It’s upward rotation of the scapula with the arm going forward, not out to the side. What is the strongest upward rotator of the scapula in that direction? Serratus anterior. You’ve heard me talk about this muscle over and over and over again because it’s so important.

So you need serratus engagement in order to do this motion, and then you need shoulder flexion to happen. You also need the deltoids and biceps to be sufficiently open. You need triceps and potentially pecs as well, so that you can reach back and also bend the elbow without—when you bend the elbow, the elbow goes like this. That’s triceps doing that. Okay.

Wow. Big one. Long video. Thanks for hanging in there. If you’ve got a question you want me to answer or try to unpack like this one, I love complex ones like this. They’re too much fun. Go to yoganatomy.com/myquestion.