Thoracic Spine Mobility

Thoracic Spine Mobility or how to avoid the dreaded rounded back!

Visually one of the most common things we see, and we want to avoid, is that rounded back. It often occurs in chronically enriched people, but if you look around it is quite common in people of all ages that have engaged in a sedentary lifestyle and poor postural habits. Which brings us back to Mobility Monday, today addressing the Thoracic Spine or mid back. (Think from neck to bottom of your rib cage.) Our mid back is meant to move, whereas our low back is not. If there is no mobility in the top, where do you think we move… yes, the low back, which equals ouch.

Another great reason to have mobility in the mid back is to be able to rotate. Life is full of them. We reach across to get the seat belt or look over our shoulder as we back the car up, we rotate to transfer items from one place to another. (see UPS in the previous article) We generally rotate to reach for the toilet paper. (think about it, not too many toilet rolls are straight ahead of you) Yet most common gym equipment moves in one plane, front to back.

We need to step away from the machines and embrace the rotation and the extension. These mobility exercises will address symptoms but please look at possible root causes, so that you can make the move to feel good all the time! Most of the time, if you explore Thoracic mobility exercises on YouTube you get a lot of back extension on the roller. Which is fine for some people, regardless of age. But if you have osteoarthritis or osteoporosis and a roller is not recommended to you, the first two exercises might be the best for you.

Remember, we all have a different story with our bodies and ultimately we are just trying to get them to remain functioning at the optimum level so we can continue to live life at full speed (or whatever speed we want, but it’s nice to have a choice.)

Ball Reach

Thoracic Extension is the ability to extend back slightly. It is the opposite of our rounded back posture. If you can’t bring your hands over your head, it could be a tight mid back. Or, if you overemphasize a roundness in the mid back and try to reach above, it hurts and is not very comfortable.

In this particular movement, I am using the ball to help my extension. However, you can do this at a counter or bar.

• Start with your hands in front, and push the ball forward, extending your tailbone back. You are lengthening here from front to back.
• Your low back remains stable.
• In Yoga, the “Child Pose,” will give you the same benefit. Most of the time when clients do this, they express how good it feels.
• You can also do this sitting on a chair and push the ball out.

Standing Cross Reach

This movement benefits the rotation part of our mid back.

• Start at a wall and walk the hands up as far as you can to 12 o’clock (clock time).
• Bring the right arm down and weave it under the left arm to reach 9 o’clock, then bring it back to 12.
• Then take the left arm and reach it over to 3 o’clock.
• Reach out on both sides 5-8 times.

Open Book

This exercise can be done on a mat or on a bed. Notice I have a small roller between my legs to maintain the integrity of my low back. You can also use a pillow or yoga block.

• Start in a fetal position with your arms extending from the chest.
• Let the top of the hand follow the line of the bottom arm to the chest and reach to the opposite side.
• You can let your head follow your hand, but the hips need to remain stacked and the low back needs to be stable.
• Return the hand back to the original position.
• Make sure to exhale at the end range of all your movements.

Next time you visit, look for more Thoracic Spine mobility exercises on my blog. In the meantime, let me know how you feel after these in a comment below! Have a great week!