11/14/2025
Jeff is ripped looking insane at 60 and is prepping for his first show. He has been a massage client who decided that I would able to help him with his posing. Jeff was having a difficult time controlling, moving, and maintaining his shoulder blades during poses. Whenever I massage someone in prep and they have issues with poses the knowledge I have of muscle attachments always ends up inadvertently turning into posing coaching. Something like not fully spreading their scapula on a front lat spread or always having a shoulder blade shrug higher than the other comes back to some kind of compensation pattern from lack of mobility. After I loosen the tight muscle I explain to them how to move their muscle attachments(not necessarily how to pose) now that the area is loosened up so that the pose looks as good as possible. Breaking down muscle actions by way of muscle attachments that result in potential compensation patterns that affect how a pose and especially an exercise looks is the most direct way to improve the targeted movement. Example: it’s not a front lat spread to me. It’s a fully protracted scapula while internally rotating the glenohumeral joint, while trying to maintain as much thoracic extension as possible.
