Of course as I type this I am sitting down… lol. Absolutely vital work in our desk and computer age. Thanks for reading and Grok on! I see that some people with a narrow grip tend to “scrunch up” more than others. This post makes me more aware of my posture during the day which is a necessity! People simply don’t know any differently. The thoracic spine, however, needs to be mobile, and to a creater degree, achieve an extension moment and be able to show the ability to dynamically stabilize. Do yourself a favor and get adjusted and ask your doc about upper cross syndrome. Knees – Stable The shoulders rotate inward, the head droops forward, and the back becomes rounded. The benefits of good thoracic mobility include: • Improved lung capacity • Improved posture • Improved shoulder mechanics • Improved spinal rotation (extremely important in any sport requiring twisting such as golf and kayaking) ... Prone Thoracic Extension … You’ll find that an immobile thoracic spine isn’t just bad for the vertebrae themselves. After the hips, thoracic spine mobility is probably the most crucial aspect of mobility. We need good thoracic extension to get into the proper position for the deadlift. Move slowly and don’t hyperextend the spine. It is a great bang for your buck exercise that addresses numerous body regions with core engagement, thoracic spine extension, scapular muscle activation, shoulder mobility, and deep neck flexor muscle activation. Your email address will not be published. I had been doing some yoga at home for a while and then saw somewhere that the shoulder stand and plough are not recommended because you can overstretch things. With a stiff thoracic spine the natural rounded curve increases and the ability to extend (straighten up) and rotate is decreased. I’ve been working with a physical therapist the past few weeks for this exact issue. Awesome post! Or is this coming tomorrow? The quality of movement in any section of the spine and other major joints in your body can influence how nearby joints move and function. All strokes in tennis require some degree of rotation and extension. And remember we are not only trained in spinal manipulation, but also other modalities including deep tissue massage and exercises for both prehab and rehab! Decreased thoracic mobility decreases the range of shoulder movements particularly elevation (lifting overhead) by changing the position of the shoulder blade on the rib cage. Men who use fish oil have bigger, better balls. From its name, you probably know that your thoracic spine is on located in your (drum roll please)... spine. Get thoracic extension mobility and control and you will take a lot of stress off the other areas of your body. How can physio help with Thoracic Spine Stiffness? Your Hip mobility article last week has already helped me a lot. A proper exercise program that accentuates full body movements (wonder where that could be found???) A partner can provide some overpressure by pushing between the shoulder blades for a further push into mobility restrictions. As a result, a nation of chronic shoulder slumpers has developed, and when those slumpers attempt to lift heavy things, pick up groceries, and throw footballs with their immobile, underutilized thoracic spines, bigger, acute injuries arise. The need is associated to the sedentary trend and activities such as texting and laptops etc. If there is a change in their role, it causes the link of the chain up or/and below to go into dysfunction, creating compensation for the lack of mobility/stability. Secondly, a lot of missed lifts occur because the chest is unable to open up due to stiffness in the thoracic spine and decreased strength in upper back muscles which pushes the weight forward making the lift harder. Even if you don’t notice any of the symptoms leaping out at you, it never hurts to get more mobility, especially in the thoracic spine. (and so do Daddy and I) Thanks Mark!!! https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/science/07neanderthal.html?pagewanted=2&ref=science. In addition a subluxation in T9 can cause overactive adrenals to produce an excess of cortisol. Try this simple move regularly and your back will thank you for it. It’s the hips, it’s the lumbar spine, it’s the abs, and it’s the thoracic spine. If you’re (they’re) lucky, they’ll ditch the sugar and the grains and notice an incredible difference. Great article. Thoracic Spine Mobility Exercise for Extension Using Tennis Balls. The 3 Not-So-Perfect Exercises for Thoracic Mobility. Thanks! It feels unnatural to sit back on the sitz bones and “stack” your body over the hips. Benefits of Thoracic Mobility Exercises: I am so excited that you have included spinal health in your blog. This starts with kids: we put them in desks for 12 years starting about age 6. Find a principled chiropracTOR and live up to your fullest potential! thanks!! Do you get lower back or neck pain when doing twisting or rotational movements? I’m standing while reading this at work! The human spinal column is composed of five segments: the cervical spine, which extends up the neck to the base of the skull; the thoracic spine, which encompasses the shoulder and chest area; the lumbar spine, also known as the lower back; the sacrum; and, finally, the coccyx, or tail bone (the last two of which are lumped together as “Pelvic” in the graphic to the right). Any time you move or ask your body to accomplish a task, your body will figure out a way to do it and it will usually take the path of least resistance. How Compensation Happens in the Neck. Long but worth it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yYJ4hEYudE. Summertime is very brief and intense here in Massachusetts. Weather performing a handstand freestanding, or against a wall is it crucial for the spine to be in thoracic extension. Thoracic extension 1. https://www.life.edu/sites/default/files/Straighten_Up_America.pdf. We’re mostly concerned with the lumbar and thoracic spine. These do a great exercise to incorporate a little mobility into the triceps, as well as the shoulders and thoracic spine. It increases T-spine mobility with minimal involvement of the low back. In sum, it is important to develop thoracic mobility in a precise way that allows healthy spinal architecture and movement and not in a wanton way that threatens your skeletal integrity or scaffolding. . Extend Your Thoracic Mobility Pilates Style | March - April 2020 These upper-back bends might look simple, but their benefits are BIG, from reversing slumped-over posture to reducing your risk of injury and relieving back pain. Although in my younger years I always walked around with my chest out, shoulders back and lats flared trying to impress the ladies. Modern life style and certain sports can lead to stiffness and poor movement which increases the natural “kyphosis” (rounding curve) of the thoracic spine which can lead to decreased sporting performance, injury and pain. I’ve been going through the book Magnificent Mobility by Robertson and Cressey and it’s been a great help. It used to be the sole province of specialized physical therapists and chiropractors (and even they failed to emphasize mobility), and the general citizenry have lived their lives without even considering the nuances of the various spinal vertebrae. Great post, Mark, as per usual. Yay. I’ve really improved my sitting, standing, and bending. So, so true. Research of the Week A physio is trained to assess all vertebra movements and posture. Thanks for this supportive community Mark, I would never talk about this stuff in my day to day life, although I freely talk about nutrition and food choices and how they affect our health and wellness..I don’t really know why I segregate the two aspects, another probe for some other time I suppose..Thanks again, sorry for the ramble as usual…. How do you find the time!? A less painful, more stable lower back – Your lumbar spine will be free to provide stability, rather than make up for your lack of mobility. Maybe it is because I live in the city, but whenever I go to a (nice) park..I have these uncontrollable urges,,,to be a kid again! For a fun (scary) test, exaggerate the round in your upper back; create a real hump, then try to press your arms overhead. C’mon – you trusted me on grains, sugars, and vegetable oils, didn’t you? The latest diagnosis is that it is a facet joint problem and I am to visit an anaethetist to get a cortisone/local anaesthetic injection in the joint – which is rather invasive. Once we have the appropriate range of motion, we need strength within that range to resist flexion under load. Spine health is critical. A thorough assessment should involve thoracic spine movements such as extensions, rotation, side bending and rib expansion. One new area that is becoming more researched and is linked to thoracic spine stiffness is changes to breathing.  Normal breathing requires the ribs to move like a bucket handle (they lift to the sides). THORACIC EXTENSION IS SOMETHING I AM PARTICULARLY PASSIONATE ABOUT. To the guy a couple posts ahead of me who asked about how this relates to pull-ups, it’s very relevant! An immobile thoracic puts more pressure on other areas of the spine and is often the cause of lower back pain or neck ache. This factor is made worse in cardiovascular-based sports that require sitting or being bent over such as rowing, kayaking or cycling (particularly in a time trial position).  This can be demonstrated by placing your hands on your hands on your lower ribs and taking a deep breathe in good posture and in a slouched rounded posture. Hats off to you, man! It remains stable and acts as a conduit for power generated by the hips and fed to the mobile thoracic spine. Here are a couple of nice examples. It’s not that people ignore the thoracic spine willfully; it’s that they’re unaware of any distinctions between spinal and lumbar vertebrae. and they know “spine,” and that’s it. Thoracic mobility can be thought of the available movement or motion of this region of our body, and is very important for achieving good posture to ensure you don’t get pain from poor posture, and it is also essential for most sporting performances. I keep injuring myself because I think I’m 20 still, and I never did those mobility excercises or realized how weak my glutes are or how immobile my thoracic spine is, until my physical therapist told me i basically wasn’t moving at all. Meredith Rogers. It’s meant to be solid, reliable. Muscles that extend your spine can be strengthened while lying on your stomach. The Wall Angel is a commonly performed exercise in both Rehab and Prehab for good reason. Self stretching is very important and something that should be included in a regular stretching program for all athletes but more so for people at risk of problems such as desk workers, cyclists, swimmers, kaykers and other sports that require good thoracic mobility and posture. The various vertebrae weren’t given different names for fun. Actually having good posture, is IMHO, very uncommmon. This is a great article full of great info. I crashed my bike on Saturday when a freak accident jammed my chain round the bottom bracket I of course ended up on the road. Isolate the abs and the lower back. If you have overly-mobile scapulae, it’s often a t-spine problem where the body is attempting to create mobility where it is lacking in the t-spine (or shoulders/cervical vertebrae). I’m hoping tomorrow’s post will shed some light on it. Although the lumbar spine (lower back) has been shown to decrease in mobility with age, the thoracic spine loses an even greater percentage of mobility 2 . Changes to lower limb mechanics due to thoracic spine stiffness can be more subtle than seen in upper limb. It’s tough to think about. There is a great need for thoracic mobility and stability. c. Enable your shoulders to roll further back without swaying the low back, Don’t use thoracic mobility to: If you’ve ever searched for posture exercises online, chances are you’ve come across these 3 moves. Neck pain, back pain, headaches, and arm radiculopathy usually aren’t far behind. Healthier shoulders – No longer will a rounded upper back prevent natural scapular action during overhead movements, thus reducing the chance of rotator cuff impingement. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce a few strategies for regaining and maintaining thoracic spine mobility. I read your site nearly every day and try to apply as many of your principles of health to my life! Scoff at the prospect of thoracic spine mobility all you want; you still gotta have it. Greater range of motion – By finally engaging your thoracic spine in times of spinal rotation, flexion, and extension (like throwing a ball or a punch), instead of your lumbar spine, you will get stronger, faster, and more explosive in those movements. At a desk entails extending the thoracic spine awareness is fairly recent dynamic movement. Than letting them shrug up by your ears good with sitting and standing last year, but stopped working this... 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