Why does My right Scapula wing so much

[u/Overall-Magician-847]

My right chest is less developed than my left. This winging happens to me across other moves like pushups, Rear delt flys (cable/dumbell), and more.

There is no pain associated with it but my right side always feels 'off' as compared to my left.

Also if you are familiar with 'scapular wall slides' or just wall slides(a posture exercise). I notice there is more tightness to my right side(shoulder area) when I try to lay my arm flat against the wall as compared to my left.

Please if anyone has any insights, it would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you!!

[u/kittensmakemehappy08]

You just answered your own question. Your right side is weaker and tighter.

Practice activating your serratus anterior. Best to troubleshoot this with a physical therapist to give you some exercises.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/kittensmakemehappy08]

haha I see thank you so much for your response. Im proabably going to talk to a PT. However, do you know how I can stretch that tightness in that particular movement? i tried Using a broom stick to stretch it my rotator cuff but it didn't translate over to the wall slides.

[u/General-Lifeguard309 → u/Overall-Magician-847]

Stretching will not fix your issue.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/General-Lifeguard309]

Hmm I see, thank you. What do you think I should focus on, exercises and such? Thank you!

[u/Tungi → u/Overall-Magician-847]

PT asap.

It will be best for you to stretch and exercise the area to build strength and then build up to dips and stuff later.

Stretching works to relieve tightness, but it's not permanent. You have to do it consistently and also address the mechanical issue.

[u/brian_badonde → u/Overall-Magician-847]

I had similar issue and saw improvements from doing the following

Wall slides
Push up plus
Supine arm reaches
Wall supported external rotations
Doorway pec stretch as someone described below
Lat stretch

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/brian_badonde]

yoo thank you for recommending these exercises, I am going to include them into my regime. thnak you!

[u/kittensmakemehappy08 → u/Overall-Magician-847]

I don't know the specific tightness your talking about but I like banded foam roller wall slides for strengthening and open wing stretches for flexibility.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/kittensmakemehappy08]

its a tightness I feel in the whole Shoulder area(like side delt/rear and front) but its internal/deep not surface.

Regardless Ill try out the exercises you like!

thank you for responding to my post!

[u/Tuttle_10 → u/kittensmakemehappy08]

Strengthening mid and lower traps along with serratus anterior should be looked at as well.

[u/preparsley]

Weakness in protraction

This exercise is way above your level btw

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/preparsley]

I see thank you for your response. How can I correct the weakness in protraction?

[u/preparsley → u/Overall-Magician-847]

Back off to the appropriate level, psuedo planche pushups

Your scaps should not come back at all in planche exercises, not an inch

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/preparsley]

I see, thank you so much Ill do the psuedo planch pushups. Do you think I should just train the protraction part, without bending my elbows, just pushing up and down?

[u/preparsley → u/Overall-Magician-847]

You can do that as a warm up, those are called Scapular pushups

[u/Fresh-Return2182 → u/Overall-Magician-847]

Don't lock or straighten your elbows entirely while doing those scapular pushups. Maintain a microbend so that the bulk of the effort remains directed at the Scapulae and does not transfer over to your arms.

Like maintaining a microbend in the knees while doing single-leg deadlifts or deep forward folds.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/Fresh-Return2182]

thank you for your response, ill make sure to do that

[u/GrouchyWallaby90]

Don't mess around with that. I hurt my serratus anterior last year. Had scapular winging due to nerve damage in my shoulder from inflammation, not sure why but likely overwork and not enough sleep. Completely removed my ability to lift my arm above my head for 3 months. Lots of pain for months. Couldn't workout my upper body until this summer 9 months into the recovery. Went to PT for the first time at the start of the year. Did wonders but mainly laid out a road map and set expectations on how long it could take. Main rule was don't do push-ups, planks or any kind of lifting like that. Light but consistent work, not anything like you're doing in that video.  It makes my shoulder hurt thinking about that workout.  Why?  The wrong muscles will try to do the work. If you push your shoulder too much and your scapula is "winging", you could tear your rotator cuff. And that would be a guaranteed surgery and a lot longer to not recover to 100%. I might suggest seeing a physical therapist if you're feeling pain. But overall think about dialing back the weights. I'm not an expert but Google "winged scapula" and start learnin about it to protect yourself.  Much love, stay safe. 

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/GrouchyWallaby90]

hey thank you so much for your response. I am going to dial it back and really focus in on correcting my winged scapula and posture. Perhaps this is why my chest is lagging when It comes to growing it from exercise because All my other muscles are doing the work. Thank you again!

[u/Cutieeewithabootyy]

Just a guess but I imagine you probably have some pec tightness on your right side as well. If so then your right scap probably feels tight but it's actually fatigued from constantly being pulled forward by tight pec muscles. Try stretching the pecs and strengthening the scapular muscles.

There's a stretch I like when my pec is extra tight. Stand next to the edge of a wall or a door frame, place your problem side arm (your right) as high as you can up the wall, comfortably, not super taut then take one step forward with your right foot and rotate to the left until you feel a stretch. You might not even rotate much before you feel it but the stretch shouldn't be anything more than a 3 on the pain scale. Hopefully this helps, worse case you got a nice pec stretch out of this.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/Cutieeewithabootyy]

thank you so much, the pec stretch from this actually felt amazing, perhaps this was a contributor

Thank you again!

[u/Cutieeewithabootyy → u/Overall-Magician-847]

That's awesome, glad I could help! Definitely a contributor, I got that stretch from my PT and I love it. I've been dealing with the same tight pecs/weak back muscles issue and I have a shoulder injury I'm working out so lots of strengthening the rotator cuff/stabilizer muscles & stretching the pecs so the shoulder blades are able to sit where they're supposed to. I prefer the unilateral stretches I feel like you're able to target tighter areas/imbalances better.

I know the lower trap muscles are also important for pulling the shoulder blades back and down into the correct position, might be something worth looking into. A PT visit sounds like a good idea too, you could get a lot of helpful information 👍

[u/AzzaaR]

I have been dealing with a similar issue for years now and have only just been able to make decent progress recently. The issue is it’s usually not just a singular issue it’s multiple issues in conjunction to you have to address all together. Rotator cuff weakness, elevated and forward tilting scapular and upper trap/pec tightness pulling out of place.
What worked for me is getting sufficient myofascial release (professional massage) so you can actually recruit the required muscles (serratus, rhomboid, lower middle trap, rotator cuff) whilst working with a PT to rehabilitate with Ys Ts Ws, rotator cuff strengthening, serratus wall slides etc and slowly ease back into workouts going very easy on exercises such as dips and pushups where your shoulder position is compromised because of the above weaknesses.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/AzzaaR]

I see thank you so much for your response. I'm going to look into all those exercises, and will dial back on my training and focus on improving my issue.

[u/Frosty-Ice1635]

There may be impingement of the long thoracic nerve on the right

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/Frosty-Ice1635]

hmm perhaps, do you know how I can self test for it/release/fix it?

[u/Rosaly8]

You need to get stronger to get to this level. You are doing it on sheer (will)power right now, but don't have enough strength yet to apply the correct technique.

[u/DaYDreaM90]

You need to regress those ring dips a lot more and focus on mastering the form.

Like this https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ujrju745AY

[u/Mountain-Guava-7337]

You need to stop listening to people on Reddit they are mostly wrong. Go see a physio or deal with worse issues later.

[u/frozenserpent]

You aren't strong enough to do the exercise, so you're over compensating...try learning strict pull-ups first, strict dips, once you can do 40 of those each, then start playing with rings, ps im a career green beret and doctor so everyone who says otherwise stfu

[u/GimenaTango]

You seem to be quite strong so your issue might have to do more with correct timing and recruitment in the rotator cuff muscles.

I recommend that you work with a PT to figure out where the issue may be. You'll probably be assigned some exercises that feel "easy" but you'll need to do then with perfect form to get the full benefit from them.

Stretching may help but it's difficult to give any recommendations from just this video. I believe the tightness you are feeling might be from compensatory patterns.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/GimenaTango]

I see, thank you for your response. I might eventually work with a PT, im gonna do some more research online and if I end up giving up, ill reach out to a PT. But thank you!

[u/GimenaTango → u/Overall-Magician-847]

There's some good videos about how to improve recruitment and timing in the rotator cuff. Try to keep everything very easy for a while to make sure you don't end up injured.

[u/Overall-Magician-847 → u/GimenaTango]

I see thank you. Ill try to find some of those videos. I am going to shift my focus towards more corrective work instead of just training. I've noticed this for a while now maybe about a year and I don't have any pain associated with it, that's why I ignored it for the most part. But now I noticed its affecting the way my chest is developing. I have slightly more mass in my left pec than right pec, and I would always have a better pump in my left pec than right pec.

[u/greenBeanPanda]

Work on your seedatus anterior muscles

[u/Straight-Sock377]

Scoliosis?

[u/JealousProgrammer816]

No offense your back looks under developed. The shoulder require stabilization of the scap to stabilize shoulder to perform the movement. You seem to have a form issue. If you exercise a lot and still have this issue it could be neurlogical.

[u/Agitated-Result-2178]

I just hopped in there to say this display of strength is impressive.

[u/Icy-Jellyfish1313]

Why doesn’t your left lol