With the patientís shoulder relaxed, place your fingers on one of several areas of the broad latissimus dorsi, either the lower thoracic area over the ribs or the lateral thoracic area inferior to the teres major. Position the patientís shoulder in slight flexion or neutral with the elbow extended. Guide the patient to extend his/her shoulder. Palpate the muscle bulge during this movement. With unclear muscle activity, provide gradually increasing resistance by having the patient hold while the examiner produces a push on the arm in the direction of shoulder flexion. While usually not necessary, you may need to resist all 3 directions of action of the latissimus dorsi. This is explained for the patientís right latissimus dorsi. One way to do this is for the examinerís left hand to hold the patient right hand and for the examiner to palpate with the right fingers. Ask the patient to hold against the attempt to push the patienttís shoulder into slight flexion, abduction, and lateral rotation to resist shoulder extensor, adductor, and medial rotator effort.