Night Listening｜Does "right-angled shoulders" look good? It's not necessary

Have you ever seen such a fitness guide that says that if the trapezius muscles are too high, it will not look good, and you should train your own "right-angled shoulders"? Don't believe it, it's simply alarmist!

First of all, let's talk about the normal state of our shoulders. You can also observe it yourself in front of the mirror. In normal posture, our shoulders are not horizontal. There is a natural arc from the neck to the shoulder. In addition, the inner side of the shoulder blade will show an upward rotation of 5 to 10 degrees. For example, if the inner side of the shoulder blades on both sides are regarded as two lines, the distance between the two lines should be narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. But for this right-angle shoulder, the shoulders on both sides are close to horizontal, and even a little higher than the horizontal position.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: DmitriyFrantsev

"Right-angled shoulders" refer to the state where the angles from the neck to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the upper arm are close to 90 degrees. "Right-angled shoulders" are mostly "forced". After taking a photo, once the force is released, it looks no different from ordinary shoulders. I am not making this up, you can try it yourself in front of the mirror. When you retract your shoulder blades and then sink them, the right-angled shoulders will appear naturally.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: AnaItonishvili

But don't maintain this position for a long time. The muscles attached around the shoulder blades should be balanced with each other to be the healthiest. If you maintain a fixed posture for a long time, some muscles may be strained and the muscle joints may be damaged, and you will be the one who suffers.

Review丨Ma Yong, Professor of Wuhan Institute of Physical Education