Muscle · Chest
Pectoralis major
Musculus pectoralis major
Reviewed by Dr. Ryan Rietz, D.P.T. and Dr. John Breyman, D.C.
The big fan of the chest, arising along the collarbone, the breastbone and the upper rib cartilages and converging on a flat tendon at the front of the upper arm bone. It draws the arm across the body and rotates it inward — the bench press, the hug, the throw. Its two heads pull in different directions through part of the range: the upper head lifts the arm forward, the lower head pulls it back down. Momentum's clinical system names tight chest muscles as a direct cause of shoulder pain, and its shoulder flow opens by releasing them.
Also known as
- pec
- pecs
- pec major
- chest muscle
- chest
- pectoral