Exercises to open the chest and intercostal muscles

[Toni]

These last days I am focusing on exercises to open and stretch the chest area, the rib cage and the intercostal muscles. I want to open the channels, meridians and chakras of this area (), as I feel I have some deep tissue blockages there. I am doing several exercises, mainly consisting of opening the arms at the side to spread the chest. Can you share some good exercises/ideas to help remove blockages there? I link some of the exercises I am doing:

 

 

In this video the first and the third exercise focus very well on chest opening. The third one is very good and similar to an exercise recommended by Charles Atlas.

 

Also in the next video this beautiful woman does an exercise to open the chest.

 

The first exercise of ba duan jin

 

In all these exercises we see the pattern of extending the arms in order to open and stretch the chest.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Toni

[Toni]

How to open this tissue well? years of practice haven't ended the job

[Cleansox]

The physical exercises are part of it. Then there is the mind, so do you feel a tendency to tense up? 

If so, that needs to be cleared out (completion and release). 

[Toni]

Yes, i have a tendency to tense up my upper torso. A qigong master i had told me this some time ago

[Cleansox]

So the next step is finding out why? 

[Toni]

Sure but i know i need exercises to open the tissue. I feel tightness in the area

[Cleansox]

Here comes the over-the-counter tip: Pick any, probably doesn't matter. 

 

Followed by the advice: Consult someone who can help you find the root, and then choose exercises from that. 

 

Or, my favourite, take the time to immerse yourself in a good system. If it is good, it will probably work with all your issues, although in its time and not in the order you might prefer. 

[Toni]

According to feldenkrais method doing eye exercises can help open the chest and torso. Incredible thing! Does anybody know something about this magic trick? @Zhongyongdaoist ?

[Master Logray]

2 hours ago, Toni said:

According to feldenkrais method doing eye exercises can help open the chest and torso. Incredible thing! Does anybody know something about this magic trick? @Zhongyongdaoist ?

 

Use your eyes to read some funny things and have a good laugh also works.

[Cleansox]

5 hours ago, Toni said:

doing eye exercises Does anybody know something about this magic trick? @Zhongyongdaoist

PM @voidisyinyang😁

 

[johndoe2012]

On 13.6.2020 at 12:20 AM, Toni said:

According to feldenkrais method doing eye exercises can help open the chest and torso. Incredible thing! Does anybody know something about this magic trick? @Zhongyongdaoist ?

 

Search for 'feldenkrais free mp3s' and do the exercises even if they are not related to the area you are targeting.

 

Another way is body scanning where you scan the body up and down. Search for 'Goenka body scanning' for the instructions.

[Gerard]

Treat the root rather than the branch. This is one of TCM'a main principles which many practitioners often forget.

 

In your particular case, what are you doing in your normal life that is causing you to tense your upper torso? Fix that and over time the problem will fade away.

 

 

[RobB]

Does anyone have a link to Doc Morris's spider stretches? They might be what Toni is looking for.

[Toni]

On 29/06/2020 at 8:38 AM, RobB said:

Does anyone have a link to Doc Morris's spider stretches? They might be what Toni is looking for.

How are these exercises ?

 

After all this time i have not been able to open my chest...

[Cleansox]

On 2020-05-15 at 1:33 PM, Cleansox said:

So the next step is finding out why? 

... 

[Toni]

Haven't found it yet

[Sketch]

A relevent question is - what kind of work do you do with your hands? 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Sketch

[Toni]

3 hours ago, Sketch said:

A relevent question is - what kind of work do you do with your hands?

 

 

for many years I used to work as a computer scientist, so i spent a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. I guess i developed some kind of kyphosis, but not too much

[Sketch]

Carpentry, music, gardening? Hands get hungry for expression, things that make them spread out and present their accomplishments.

 

 

There'a as much emotional content in "opening up from the chest" as there is muscular.

[Toni]

i don't do these kind of things with my hands, although i do some other things with them which is fine and i spread them out

[Sketch]

I'm finding that how I use my hands to do things I already know how to do has been a source of physical problems.

   Retraining myself, just how I get through the day, tie a knot, prepare a meal, there's a lot of balance and engineering there. 

 

 

[liminal_luke]

Something you might try.  Lie down and find a spot that feels tense.  Place a fingertip there and, without moving the fingertip off the spot, make tiny counterclockwise circles over and over.  As you do so, place your attention on the spot and be mindful of any sensations or emotions that arise.

[Toni]

it is very important for general health to open the rib cage, to keep it flexible and with good mobility

[thelerner]

I'm doing Dan John's Easy Strength program.  His warm up is goblet squats, that can be done with kettlebells or a dumbbell.  The point is use the weight to squat low.  You keep your stance wide and sink beneath your knees.  Once there squirm a little, stretch out the muscles.  Push out your knees a little with your elbows.  Then I go up and and into a press, lifting the KB over my head.  Not unlike the Charles Atlas figure in the OP.  The weight helps me get lower though. 

[E. S. A.]

There is a sequence of 4 exercises used in various QiGong circles and Vajrayana sects intended for exactly this.

The first exercise is as follows. Grab each arm around the forearms, creating a sort of rectangle with your chest and arms. Breathe in through the chest, expanding the diaphragm and the front of the ribs, slowly raising your linked arms above your head. Keep going and slightly apply pressure downwards, feel the back portion of the diaphragm sink, and the front portion rising up and stretching. Breathe out and slowly lower your arms back down, keeping them connecting. Switch the arms and repeat. This begins the proper diaphragmatic movement.

Second exercise, place your hands on your side near the base of your ribs, elbows pointing to the side. Do the same breathing, expanding up in the front, sinking down in the back. But this time more focus to expanding on the side of the chest pressing against your hands. Feeling the back sink down.

Third exercise, same as first exercise but when you stretch your arms above your head you unlink them at the top and continue to stretch further up going in to the first exercise posture of Ba Duan Jin but with linked hands. do the same breathing this time at the top focusing on expanding and breathing into the upper portion of the chest.

Final exercise is essentially spreading your arms out to the side while breathing in and pushing them out in front of you while exhaling. This is done with palms down first then palms up. But if done properly after the previous exercises the entire chest should be expanding and moving freely and you should feel as if your arms are being pushed apart to the side when you breathe in and pulled in like a spring when you breathe out. Feels like you aren't moving your arms yourself. The Qi is.

If you have any questions I can record a video or something. Very similar to various "Power Breathing" methods taught.

Enjoy,
E. S. A.
The Wanderer