Rhomboids - Are Yours Dead and Damaged? 

You are fabulous! First time I have heard anyone give such a clear and understandable explanation . You are empathetic name in tune and incredibly knowledgeable but what’s more is how well you get information across in a calm Way . Thank you !!! 🙏

“Assume you can fix it” I love that. I was in a car accident and sustained a lot of soft tissue damage in my neck and back. Seeing a PT but it’s a long road.

actually you are the best so far, your voice tonne is easy to listen and does so good. many thanks

Matt! Thank you for these videos. You're awesome.

Oh Matt, you are so right, thank so much. I went down the nerve damage rabbit trail, what got me off the horrible path was learning ATM from you.

That video was really helpful. Great tone and knowledge.

Thank you for the rhomboid exercises, I shall do them regularly. Happy New Year, thank for your help.

This is huge, thank you for explaining so well!

Thank you for this, I really needed it

When my back aches - I think to my self, "knot again!"

THIS.. is EXACTLY what I NEEDED!!!

Excellent info on rhomboids and other useful stuff! Thanks!

Thank you So Much! 3 months suffering of pain in my upper back . 3 times I was rush to hospital. I cant Explain how painful it is. That i thouht iam dying. Until One day. Searching for pain Iam sufferring I drop on your Channel.. My GOD! THANK YOU SO MUCH. I CAN WALK NOW, CAN STAND AND MOVE AROUND.. I IUST FOLLOW YOUR STRECHING EXERCISE.. GOD BLESS YOU..

Great video, appreciate the helpful info . 👍👍

one of the best presenters on youtube! Great info and delivery. I definitely have that left elbow computer lean problem. I have damaged/collapsing c6/c7 and was told not to lift weights above my head - does that sound right and if so what can I do to work muscles in that range? Keep up the great work

Thanks for the information🙏

great video the exercises feel good and are simple. your voice is very calming and i can actually listen and feel what your saying. thank you

I can't thank you enough for this video. I have been in pay every day for years....I feel soooo much better thanks to your video....thank you!!!!!!!

You are giving good advice here. Thank- you!

thank u so much. i have severe rounded shoulder problems. recently im on my way training my rhomboids for good posture

Great personality. Pain in back can make one feel depressed. I am so glad I got to this video!!!

I just had the realization the other day about fitness. Sometimes when we have neglected fitness for many years it could seem the small changes are pointless… futile!!! But someone with minimal inactivity or a poor diet can recover quickly. The person with years of neglect perhaps from childhood will take more time but still can arrived if they don’t give up!!! Like a road trip the person with little neglect will have less miles to travel to reach their destination. The person with years of neglect can still arrive as long as they are willing and committed to fitness. It can be achieved!!!

I just discovered your channel and it’s all so relevant to me. You should put all the exercises together work out video style so we can just follow along!

Hi from Liverpool UK Tks so much for all your videos your simply the best x

Had a client work between the shoulders with a lacrosse ball and numb out a nerve. It has not come back on line yet. Good advice more pressure isn’t always better and as a person who works with nerves. Nerves don’t like being crushed. FYI

Thank you so much... I have pain exactly you are talking do what you said. It was helpful.

It's nice to see that I'm not the only one with this problem

I have chronic pain in my rhomboids and neck from a car accident where I also suffered a whiplash injury. Whenever I try to work those muscles the pain is excruciating. It feels like a knife in my back between my shoulder blades.

Omg thank you so much!

Amazing outlook, I needed to hear this! Thank you for leading me away the rabbit hole😊 I agree, there is no technology to fix it. Stretching and exercise is the only way with a positive outlook. Thank you for this video ❤

It would be very helpful if you had some large anatomy pictures of muscles. Most of us are very visual and learn better when we see a visual aid in addition to hearing the lecture. Thanks.

Hi, you CAN get damaged rhomboids if you do jobs like carrying/lifting stuff all the time such as owning an event company where you carry/lift heavy equipment all the time in and out of venues, or if you do hair or bartending or any job where you use the upper body all.the.time. It happened to me, and I also had thoracic disc problems. But doctors refused to consider the possibility that I had anything seriously wrong with my thorascic muscles or discs because they couldn't imagine what I was doing. Nobody who is a Doctor lifts/carries heavy objects THAT MUCH, or has pressure on their upper body that much, as much as I was doing it, and I look different during the day than I looked as my "DJ Personna" so they just couldn't understand what I was telling them. They couldn't imagine someone who looks like me doing all that work almost every night, but I was doing it and needed help. It was so bad that my right rhomboid wasn't even moving at all. I did physical therapy and they got it moving again but I still feel damage and have weird movements/spasms in the area sometimes. These are strange times and people are doing all kinds of heavy work jobs that they didn't used to in their social position in life, for instance a mom who now has to drive Uber to supplement her income, etc. This didn't happen as much previously, so there are those of us out there with bad repetitive stress disorder that nobody thinks we should have it, and they underestimate the seriousness of the problem. Sorry for the novel but this has been a serious issue for me. Love the videos!!

I’m going to try the exercises ❤❤❤

I hurt my shoulder during covid trying to learn how to ride a fixed gear bike. I'm a tennis player, but my shoulder has not been the same since. I can't play tennis or softball (throwing is brutal) anymore. I just started losing some weight and noticed it looks like my rhomboid major muscle is completely missing from my injured shoulder. I'm definitely going to try these exercises. I had felt pretty resigned but this really seems to explain a lot of my pain and I'm hopeful I can get my muscle activated again. Thanks for the great video. Damn I guess I'm old af now.

Thank you!

One of the livestream viewers pointed out that I was demostrating a Y instead of a W. Nice catch and I apologize for the mistake! A Prone "W" is a little different and would target rhomboid better, but it also tends to get people to recruit the low back muscles a ton instead of focusing on the shoulder muscles, so for that reason I tend not to like that one either. How are your rhomboids feeling after this video? Drop a comment below! 👇 👉And check out the Shoulder Fix program at uprighthealth.com/shoulder-fix

Thanks!

Wish I heard your warning against "smashing" muscles with massage a year ago. I'm 65 and strained my back last spring gardening and loading my grandchild in and out of the car seat. Usually massage by rolling out against the wall with tennis balls in a sock. Hitting those trigger points felt SO GOOD! Unfortunately, this caused upper back swelling or inflammation so bad that I couldn't take a deep breath without pain for at least a week.

12:07 that exercise helps me! Thank u!!!! Im on pain for a year upper back pain due to wrong posture of breastfeeding and lying breastfeeding..

Thanks, I really appreciate these explainer videos.

Wow. I’m so impressed with how futuristic your approach is. I was diagnosed with a genetic muscle disease ten years ago (means it’s running in my family). One of the bigger issues is that I cannot fully raise my arms bc of weak (or inactive??) rhomboids - the shoulder blades are winging and are drawn up tightly toward the shoulder joint. It’s looks kinda funny. 😄 Anyway, people keep telling me that I cannot change anything about my condition but I do not believe them. Only recently I learned from a physiotherapist that muscles are not always too weak/destroyed; rather I probably just don’t know how to engage them… 😊

This isn't marketed towards carpel tunnel, but I would recommend anyone with carpel tunnel symptoms to give these a shot! I accidentally realized a few years ago that my symptoms improved by 50% immediately after doing these.

Thank 🙏

thank you

Thank you! I’ve also found the best way (for me) to activate the rhomboids is to squeeze a horizontal iPad near the chest at the level of xiphoid process of the sternum. Both elbows need to be relaxed, low and close to the ribs laterally. Squeeze the iPad hard in this posture and I can go as hard and long as the rhomboids can take. Also, when squeezing my posture naturally becomes straight and shoulders widened without needing to extend the spine.

EXcellent!❤❤❤

Bionic rhomboid! 😂😂😂 I'm sensing a new superhero!

Time to have a talk with my Rhambos. 😆 Thanks for this video, I know it’s going to help me.

My personal favourite for posture and getting my scapula, back and shoulders working properly is wall angels

i found that i was VERY tight across my chest and anterior shoulder and that massaging along and under the collar bones helped. at first, i couldnt touch hands behind my hips. Eventually i was able to raise them clasped behind my back. The T/W/Y/L exercises i did were lying on my back or with my back against the wall. In the W and L arm postures, the elbows were down. this makes the arm externally rotate and helps lengthen shortened arm muscles too. I still get some pain, but i no longer do my exercises. i was for a time completely pain free, but because of that, i stopped the exercises XD so totally my bad and it doesnt help that i have chronic fatigue and thus dont leave my flat as much as my body needs to to get 'natural' movement exercise

You are so smart

Hi Matt. Just hope to get advice if it'd be better kept thumbs up during the motion, used to external rotation to prevent from any shoulder impingement?

Thanks

Max level charisma

Any exercises or gentle stretching for post-op lapricsopic abdominal hernia surgery? Experiencing painful / tight intercostals near most painful of surgical sites just above liver and some spasming with breathing / relaxation & lower back is over compensating for bracing from pain. Thank you!

Doctors are not knowing & UNDERSTANDING EACH INDIVIDUAL. LIFE DOES GET BETTER AS WE GET SMARTER !!! THANKS 😊 Your are funny 😄. A gòd experienced teacher!!! 🤣 👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏

I can relate to that thought it’s my rhomboid to.. especially when I used TENS I didn’t feel much in the rhomboid. I think now that my problem is actually not the rhomboid, it’s stiff because it’s working for all my other shoulder muscles. So I’m strengthening real lightly the other muscles and try to relax the rhomboid - hope that’s going to help with my problems but I definitely feel the rest of my shoulder muscles is really weak and inactive on the right! Maybe something for people to think of

Please can you do a video on abdominal strengthening

Idk if it was coincidence but when I was Army going to gym extra with the Dip machines I had amazing romboids like it was insane.

This was brilliant. I decided to build my rhomboids and I smashed them. Now my oblique is killing me. I don't have a rubby stick, so I am trying to flex and stretch my rhomboids to loosen them up

i fell and landed on my shoulder xrays didn't show anything how long is the recovery time usually using your exercises, great channel

Thank you for this video. I was thinking of sending a query about rhomboids. I have been having spasms but still have full ROM. So i was curious about which stretch or exercises would be best.

How can we connect with our rhomboids during athletic activities or primal functions? How would we use them before physio? We have had hips because we don’t rest in a squat anymore, bad core because we don’t crawl, climb, and swim much anymore. Is rhomboid dysfunction due to humans not lifting and carrying objects, or perhaps not climbing and hanging?

9:24 Yep that’s triggering my Rhomboid’s, I believe? Even though I only have a basic realization of what they are…

Thx. What about your neck as you do the bent over exercise.

Please can you share which of your hip exercises are best for osteoarthritis in the hip?

Iphone curls 😂 guilty as charged..... Super helpful video, thank you for sharing!!

if u have rounded shoulders & forward head posture, do u have a tired/ weak rhomboids?? should you work them out??

So I've been watching videos like these, and they say it's painful, but for me, I have these insanely deep knots under my shoulder blades caused by a partially torn labrum. I also have tendinosis and bursitis. That was the diagnosis from an mri I had done about 8 years ago. Idk if anything has changed, but for me, I need to literally lean backward off the end of my bed post, which has the surface half the size of a doorknob. I then sort of do a bridge where I use my legs to lift my whole body to put all of my weight into the trigger point using the bed post. I need at least 100-150 pounds with a very small surface area to really get deep enough to fully get the most out of hitting the trigger point. My thing is while I'm doing this, instead of a pain I get the sensation of what is feels like to massage a tense muscle of knot and it sends such an intense rush of endorphins to my brain that that is what makes it so hard to hold the position where I'm digging into the trigger point. The spasms are so intense that I could put my weight into the trigger point for 3 min intervals, then stop for 30 seconds and go again over and over for up to an hour or 2. The problem is that the endorphin rush and deep muscle never seem to ever relax or calm down. I get a slight relief towards the end but by then I've almost pierced through my back skin and am nearly bleeding plus I feel a soreness from digging into the muscle yet the endorphin rush just doesn't stop and the muscle spasms never subside. It even moves around to different areas as I'm doing it. Not far but like an inch in each direction. Is this the same thing this man is suffering from? The way he screams and squirms is the same way I react from the intense release of endorphins from the deepest part of my rhomboid muscle that goes straight to my brain. It's too much to handle, and that's why I can't hold it consistently for too long without breaks in between, or I feel like my brain will explode. Usually, an endorphin rush is supposed to feel good, but mine are so amplified that my body and brain can't handle it. I try my best to push through, and it takes a lot of mental training and forcing myself to fight through until the muscle finally relaxes, but it never does. There's even been times where I dug into my trigger point over and over for around 2 hours and then it caused me to get severely nauseous and I ended up puking bile over and over for 8-12 hours with no relief until it finally went away. I remember doing some deep research years ago, and I read something about what's called the fascia, which is a layer under the muscle all over your body that can also have spasms. Maybe it's that? Does anybody have any idea what's going on with me? I know that since my labrum is partially term that it causes my back muscles to have to overwork and take on extra weight in which they aren't designed for that and only are designed to handle an aligned back with everything in tact. So I know that's what's most likely causing this intense deep knot/spasm. It's just the never ending overrush of endorphins plus the spasms never getting worked out which seems to be confusing to me. Also I used the work a job where I was a server and carried heavy trays. That's the only time I actually ever felt "pain" in the ball joint on my upper shoulder. Normally I don't ever have pain unless I do something like that...but that also exacerbated the spasm issue. I have naturally found ways to self chiropractic techniques to crack my shoulder blade and also re align my spine plus stretches that feel good but I constantly have to keep up with it or my rhomblid muscle and spine will get a lot worse. One of the techniques I do is I take the palm of my hand and press it on the side of my head while using my head/neck/spine to push back against my hand which results in my spine cracking at least halfway down my back. It gives me some sort of relief for that whole general area. Then I try pushing my left shoulder backwards I'm a way that hits the deep muscles and causes a crack under my shoulder blade.

I have scapular winging and can feel back muscle structure on one side but not the other, which I repeatedly spasmed over several years several years ago; it's like all the same lumpy (scarred?) tissue. I like your advice: Why quit?

13:15 meme worthy. Ironically the injury I have now is the only time I've ever looked past his logic. It was about to be bicep day and I had to miss the last session prior. I was expecting to be out of it with the 9/10 pain I felt just trying to sleep, but it's been 2 weeks and I'm within or past the prime stretching window. Next comes gently increasing load, and I'm back to muscle ups. In my experience as a bodybuilder, cardio, mobiliity, and stretching are so important, that you are guaranteed an injury, even from normal everyday activities, if you neglect those areas of training.

A very hard body part to build

I’m curious, would you know of anything to help with my wrist movements/mobility. A car accident caused a distal radius and ulna break, dislocation, and jammed fingers, needless to say I couldn’t move my wrist, hand or fingers. It required surgery and now I have a plate and screws. I was told I would never use my hand/wrist the same; however, I’m back to doing handstands and holding my body up off the floor, and have no weight restraints, I was able to get it to bend almost completely back to normal without physical therapy but it does still feel tight. Is there a way to loosen it back up?

How do i get my muscle to loosen up to work it out

You mean we're in the afterlife? "Lost" was incredible and I just didn't get it unless the very very end, so I'm dead, not half-bad!

Hey! it's like magic for me to find people on the same boat. I’ve been with this chronic pain for more than four years. It all started while doing pull-ups. At the third pull-up I got a sudden spasm on neck and back. I was unable to move the neck or do any kind of strength. The MRI from that moment displayed a left C5-C6 disc protrusion but since I've never done a MRI before I don't know if that was a finding. After 5 massage sessions I got pain free but every 6 months I had to return for a massage because the pain you display in the picture came back. The pain is located in the zone of the left minor rhomboid. It seems to be linked somehow to the neck but I’m not sure. A few time ago a doc told me this has to do with my right TMJD that I am not able to fix yet because I’m finishing with the orthodontic treatment. Tasks like jumping a lot or riding a lot of bike or do face pulls make the symptoms worse. I don't have headaches or issues at the face. I don't have pain at any of the TMJs. I just have a clicking sound on the right TMJD for 10 years. I tried: - Ozone Therapy (for treating possible cervical disc herniation) - Prolotherapy (for treating possible tendons/ligaments injuries) - Neural Prolotherapy - Accupunture (several times with several persons) - Osteopathy (several times with several persons) - Biodecoding - Reflexology - Therapy - Chiropractic (two times with two different persons) - Physiotherapy (several times with several persons) - Strengthening all the body muscles - Fixing unaligned teeth One week before this injury I had lots of diarrhea and vomiting all day long. Somehow this is related with vagus nerve and breathing (diaphragm). I can make more intense the ache if I do a right neck flexion or a left neck extension. Before the injury I used to have right shoulder higher than left shoulder. A spine doctor told me the left C5-C6 disc protrusion has nothing to do with my pain so I hope this all has to do with my right TMJD. Apparently there are some terms that are directly related: - Cervical Rectification - Forward head posture - C5-C6 disc bulge - TMJD - Scapula ache A few weeks ago I saw that there is a difference between cervical pinched nerve and cervical facet joint. For example for left C5-C6 bulge you would lose strength at the left bicep or you would have some issues with reflexes. But for the cervical facet joint you have to see this chart. And at least in my case, this chart matches with the spot of pain (similar as the picture you uploaded). I hope we can find more people with this so that we can find a fix beetween we all

Back when I was like 13 years old I was doing janitorial work at night illegally of course with my mom and I had a trashcan 40 gallon plus full of garbage including stuff from the service garage of a dealership and it included disc brakes things like that, I had to drag that thing up a Portable stair case to dump this can into the big dumpster that was the kind that goes on the back of a truck and they drop it off, I mean it was massive so as I’m pulling this can up I felt the muscle in my upper right back in between my shoulder blades tear literally ripped, it was the most gruesome feeling I’ve ever had and I was in agony on the floor for weeks. No my mother did not take me to the hospital, care to guess why? Child labor laws? Anyhow for many many years afterwards I suffered from these intense muscle spasms that would knock me out for a couple of weeks because it hurt so bad. I know for a fact that muscle tore, It’s an almost indescribable feeling.

I felt the muscles as soon as i raised my hands , does it mean it's torn ?

Dont think I have nerve damage but almost certain I detatched either my rhomboid or trap

My right rhomboids has sharp pain when i flex my neck or looking down what can i do ?

I have the "rocking boat syndrome "...any ideas...had "incident" outcome whiplash...later another trauma and "rocking boat syndrome".

Thank you I did the first one felt the burn so bad I hope tomorrow when I wake up I feel that relief

Never have I experienced such a rush of blood than when I did these

Can we do that exercise at 14:56 with light weights ?

Please answer , is dead the same as pain and soreness on rhomboid pain??? Did chiropractor for months then after 6 mths it finally went away now 2 months later it returned. I dont wnat to go back to chiropractor I need this repaired. Please tell me I can do this please on my own God bless u

I've been suffering from what I believe is romboid pain, also goes into my chest and feels like a heart issue. But when I use a small tennis ball and do exercises with this it hurts and feels sore.

Hie can an abs roller wheel cause damage to my rhomboids?

I have been told that I have an entrapped nerve in the rhomboid (R) muscle. I have chronic pain now for 2 years. Have been doing different exercises from Physio, have now had a Cortizone injection in the shoulder, tried massage and nothing works. Any suggestions would help. Have been told nothing more can be tried and I will have to learn to live with the pain.

Sir I have been having rhomboid pain since lifting heavy things in December, ever since I ve been experiencing numb right arm, small shoots of pain in my ribs occasionally at night lying down, what should I do?

5:00 Car massages work great! 😂😂

My wife rolls my quads out with her car every week, I don't even ask.

To give one's self a back massage is VERY DIFFICULT. 🤔😪

Hey Sir, I have the exact same issue. Four months ago while doing rear delt flies I felt a pinch back in the rear delt. Mri confirmed no tear nor cervical issues. I went down the rabbit hole thinking nerve pain. Eventually thought it was TOS because the pain slowly crept up my scalenes, pec, and down the arm. I had some nerve hydrodissection treatments for the Brachial Plexus an scapular nerves. It has helped but still I have the nagging dead rhomboid feeling or it feels there's a muscle around my scap that won't activate and feels stiff. The more I play with it the more stiff it gets with secondary pain and so on. If I try to relax it it spasms. Also when I flex my bicep I get this stinging pain in the outer bicep and rear delt that turns to an ache around the scapula. Any advice? Sorry for the long message just desperate to get better.

Hi all. Have had TOS for quite a while. Been up and down over the years, worst flare ever starting last year. Been recommended for surgery but still tryna claw my way out through this and my bilateral ECU subluxation. Just wondering...uhhh...has anybody else ever had an issue where their rhomboid on one side feels kind of...mushy? My less affected side has normal rhomboid, but my bad TOS side has mushy rhomboid which sometimes becomes painful. And I can like manually move the scapula around with my opposite hand even when trying to resist by tensing my shoulder muscles, which doesn't happen my other side.

So I’m having major rhomboid issue on my left side where my left are goes painfully numb. I’ve been using the lacrosse ball and trying to contact the muscle to wake them up. But when I’m doing static squeezes my left side with cramp up and then I have to pull my shoulder blade forward to get it to uncramp. Any thoughts on why this is cramping when I hold a squeeze?

I’ve got a t7t8 herniation . And it feels like my rhomboids are weak . I get some slight scapular winging.

Ive had three deep tissue sports massgages etc but my left rhomboids were still tight and sore...Eventually just went on its own..But still flareup sometimes...I tried all the stretching etc

I am on the stage you were 10 years ago...:)

How about push ups ?

5 years with a dead rhomboid, got so much wrong advice, I gave up trying until today when for the first time I decided to look around on RU-vid.. can’t believe I didn’t look earlier, I’ve been doing the first exercise for 10 minutes and can already start to feel it working