Stretch It: Deltoids

September 4, 2007

You want to work your muscles and then you want to stretch 'em. If you have been doing dumbbell front raises, or front rowing, you have been working your deltoids -- The muscle on the top of the arms that is so fun to show off by wearing tank tops. You want to keep the muscle flexible by doing this stretch for your deltoids.

Deltoid Stretch

Reach your right arm across your chest
Place right forearm in the crook of the left elbow
Bicep curl with your left arm to pull right arm toward your chest

Hold for 10 to 15 seconds

Switch arms to stretch your left deltoid. Repeat the stretch twice on each arm.

2 Comments

3 years

A quick and easy but good stretch is also a very basic one that I'm sure everyone has done before. Keep in mind that this stretch isn't going to strengthen your deltoids, just stretch them. Bend your arm at your elbow and put it at a right angle, your forearm area going behind your head. With your other arm hold on to the fingers of the hand you are stretching and pull just a little. It might be a tad painful but not only will it stretch your deltoid and upper arm, it will also increase flexibility in those regions. Another stretch is to bend your arm behind your head, so your hand is touching your shoulderblade. Put your other hand on your elbow and keep that doing that stretch for a few seconds. It might be a tad painful but that is just a sign you need to stretch that area more. I am a physical therapist and these are two of the exercises i use for some injuries to the deltoid/arm area. I hope i was able to help you and good luck! Feel free to email me for more stretches or exercises or with any questions.

wonhorsetown 5 years

This stretch will only target your posterior (back) deltoid. The deltoid is made up of 3 muscles that cap the shoulder. To target the middle section of the deltoid sit in a chair and with your hands grab the bottom of the seat and sit up straight while continuing to hold on - you will feel the stretch pretty quickly if you have short arms. To target the anterior (front) deltoid do the opposite of the stretch that was posted - using your other arm and with your elbow straight basically pull one arm across the back of your body until you feel the stretch. Hold each of them up to 30 seconds. It's important that you do all 3 stretches. I am a massage therapist and new clients always complain of shoulder pain and I ask them to demonstrate their deltoid stretch and they just do the one that's posted here and it simply not enough. Once they start using the other two components they really start to feel a difference. Try it!!

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2 Comments