Oh, Chest Expansion… what an interesting name for an exercise. Will it make my chest bigger/wider/stronger?
As a Pilates exercise, we see it nearly everywhere: on the Reformer, on the Arm Chair, on the Pedipole, on the Cadillac, in kneeling and in standing positions. Where we practice it, the technique remains the same: take a deep breath in as you extend the shoulders to pull the springs behind the body, hold the air in at the top of your inhale and turn your head from side to side, release all tension on the exhale.
What’s it for, you ask? In our definition, Chest Expansion builds upper body strength and shoulder extension, opens the chest and stretches the neck.
We first encountered the term “chest expansion” (outside the Pilates method) in the cover picture for this blog. Just in case you have trouble reading the caption underneath (perhaps because you can’t take your eyes of this “superb example of physical development”), here it is:
“A superb example of physical development. This shows a splendid combination exercise for neck and chest. Pull the head back in this manner while resisting the movement with the arms, and repeat until slightly tired. This exercise will ensure good chest expansion.”
The picture and text stem from Book XVII, “Treats of Physical Culture and Body Building”, part of the collection “Library of Health, Complete Guide to Prevention and Cure of Disease” which was edited by B. Frank Scholl, Ph.G., M.D. and published by “Historical Publishing Co, Philadelphia. P.A., U.S.A. The copyright from its first publication in 1916 is attributed to E.J. Stanley.
While we’re at it, try it! Feels familiar? Yes, you just learned something about your Neck Pull, the Neck Stretcher, and Neck Alignment at large (check out our Learning Curve on Neck Alignment for more of this). But, what did you feel? And, what do you feel now, after performing this simple drill? Does your chest feel “more open”? How is your breath sitting inside your lungs?
In this and any other example, Chest Expansion typically describes a stretch to the pectoral girdle, an extreme widening of the collarbones. The “undoing” of rounded shoulders, forward head posture, and tight musculature in the thoracic region helps us find a fuller breath and expansion of the ribcage.
As for the Pilates equivalent of Chest Expansion, we address all of these aspects by enhancing our awareness of our breath and neck alignment. It’s no surprise that this effective movement is practiced on nearly every apparatus we find in a Pilates studio.