Relationship between pectoralis major stiffness and shoulder extension range of motion

Andreas Konrad; Marina M Reiner; Konstantin Warneke; Michael Keiner; Masatoshi Nakamura; Markus Tilp

doi:10.3389/fphys.2024.1349426

Relationship between pectoralis major stiffness and shoulder extension range of motion

Front Physiol. 2024 Mar 6:15:1349426. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1349426. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Andreas Konrad¹, Marina M Reiner¹, Konstantin Warneke², Michael Keiner³, Masatoshi Nakamura⁴, Markus Tilp¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Human Movement Science, Sport and Health, Graz University, Graz, Austria.
² Institute of Sport Science, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria.
³ Department of Exercise Science, German University of Health and Sport, Ismaning, Germany.
⁴ Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishi Kyushu University, Saga, Japan.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the passive muscle stiffness of the pectoralis major muscle pars clavicularis (PMc) and shoulder extension range of motion (ROM) in both male and female participants. Thirty-nine (23 male/16 female) physically active and healthy participants volunteered in this study. After a standardized warm-up, the PMc stiffness was tested via shear wave elastography at a slightly stretched position (long muscle length) and in a non-stretched position (short muscle length). Additionally, a custom-made device and 3D motion capture assessed the active shoulder extension ROM. We found a significant moderate and negative relationship between shoulder extension ROM and PMc stiffness at long muscle length (rs = -0.33; p = 0.04) but not at short muscle length (r = -0.23; p = 0.17). Additionally, there was no significant difference between male and female participants in the correlation analyses at both elbow angles. The moderate correlation between PMc stiffness at a slightly stretched position and shoulder extension ROM suggests that additionally, other structures such as nerves/fascia stiffness or even stretch tolerance might be factors that can be related to shoulder extension ROM.

Keywords: correlation; flexibility; muscle stiffness; shoulder extension; stiffness.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/P32078I]. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.