This week, we explored arguably one of the most significant areas of the body when it comes to contributing to pathology.
The thoracic spine is 12 segments (vertebrae) that are the bridge between the cervical spine and lumbar spine. On top of that, the ribs/ribcage articulate with the thoracic spine, and that scapula articulates with the ribcage…this creates a pivotal relationship with the thoracic spine and the shoulders.
From an anatomical standpoint, we would love the thoracic spine to be able to move in the following degrees of motion (roughly):
- Flexion: 20-45 degrees
- Extension: 20-45 degrees
- Rotation: 35-50 degrees
- Side bend: 20-40 degrees
Unfortunately, as we become more and more a desk bound population, we tend to see a lot of this type of posture. Consequently, we adapt to a more thoracic flexion dominant posture, and we lose our ability to extend well, and rotate.
This creates issues for us, because as we know, when the body wants motion, it will take it where it can get it! For example: if we want 180 degrees of shoulder flexion, but the thoracic spine cannot contribute its normal extension amount, the body will steal excess or inappropriate motion from the shoulder complex.
As you can see, this can be a slippery slope on the way to injury-ville, USA.
The same goes for neck range of motion. When we lose our ability to extend and rotate at the upper thoracic spine, our body will often times steal it from the lower cervical region which is supposed to be relatively “stable.” Consequently…well you get the point.
Take Aways
At the end of the day, dosing thoracic mobility is one of the most impactful things you can do on a daily basis to help improve our chances of not developing injuries in the surrounding joints, but especially the shoulder and neck. Simply put, thoracic extension is the lowest of hanging fruits in terms of “kinetic hygiene.”
This week, we have put together a few VERY EFFECTIVE ways to dose thoracic mobility, both from a bony/joint approach, and a soft tissue approach.
I started off the week with my personal favorite, a catch-all thoracic mobility exercise that gets us into thoracic extension AND rotation…enter the “thoracic windmill.” See the post below for further details and instructions on execution.
Following this up, Joe demonstrated an excellent mobility technique for pure thoracic extension, and followed it up with a dynamic way to not only improve thoracic mobility, but also drill in scapular stability, which will be covered in greater detail next week!
Finally Teddy composed EIGHT variations of soft tissue techniques to help mobilize tissues that directly impact thoracic mobility such as the Latissimus Dorsi, Teres Major, posterior capsule of the shoulder, and posterior rotator cuff muscles.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTMSe5tD1FD/
As always, thank you for reading and I hope this was helpful for you!