Muscle of the Month: Pectoralis (Pec) Major

Ever wonder what muscles you use when you’re walking or maybe when you’re making dinner or doing chores around the house? Perhaps you’ve always wondered why a certain muscle flares up when you’ve been sitting for a long period of time. 

At Spears Strong, we not only want to get fit and have fun while doing it but we also want to inform you about those very muscles you’re using in every workout and in day to day life. Massage Therapist and Trainer Sara Stevens walks you through a new muscle each month, highlighting everything from what the muscle does to how to relieve tension in that muscle and how we use that muscle in Spears Strong workouts. We hope you enjoy learning about the muscle of the month, or MOM as we're calling it. 

By Sara Stevens
sara@spearsstrong.com

MOM Pectoralis (Pec) Major

Location Pectoralis major is one of our main chest muscles. Pec major is a pretty broad muscle. It starts at the middle of our chest on the clavicle (collar bone), sternum (breast bone) and top 6 ribs, and stretches across to the front of our humerus (arm bone), right below the shoulder.

What’s it do? Pec major will bring the arm closer to the midline of the body, rotate the shoulder in toward the body, raise your arm out in front of you, and help pull your arm back behind you.

Day to day use Pec major is used when we reach forward to use a computer, drive a car, or hug our friends. We also use it to swing a bat, do push ups, or smash a mosquito between our hands.

When pec major becomes overdeveloped and tight, it can create postural issues, such as causing our arm to rotate inward too much.This can negatively affect muscles of the back and potentially contribute to nerve impingement in our chest and armpit area.

How to relieve it Feeling some of that tightness when you're sitting at your computer or driving a car? Take regular breaks in your day and do some elbow curls and reverse pullovers.