Upper-mid Back Pain? Unlock your Thoracic Spine!
Are you hunched over at your desk all day long? With lockdown after lockdown, work from home doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. That doesn’t mean that your upper-mid back pain & stiffness needs to stick around as well. So, let’s talk about the thoracic spine (T-spine).
The T-spine is made up of 12 vertebrae. It’s actually the longest region of the spine which connects with the cervical spine (your neck) above and the lumbar spine (your low back) below, and yet it’s so often ignored! The thoracic vertebrae serve as attachment sites for our ribs which allow for optimal breathing and provide support for our torso/chest areas which house important organs such as our heart & lungs.
While its role in providing stability is important, the T-spine also needs to be mobile! In fact, thoracic spine mobility is actually essential to full neck and shoulder range of motion. Restricted in your neck range when looking up or down? It may not be your neck, but your T-spine at fault. Unable to get your arms all the way up? You actually need T-spine extension to allow for that full shoulder mobility.
Our T-spine, which is naturally rounded forward, is often victim to poor postures. Over time, that curvature increases and our ability to extend (straighten up) through the T-spine as well as our ability to rotate through the T-spine decreases. But it’s not just you. The average person is quite stiff in this area but that’s why it’s so important to get it moving! Try out some of the mobility exercises below today!
3 VARIATONS OF THORACIC EXTENSION EXERCISES
- Foam-roll assisted thoracic extension
Hold that stretch: 3 reps x 30 seconds, 2-3x/day
- Thoracic extension over foam-roll
Hold that stretch: 3 reps x 30 seconds, 2-3x/day
- Cat-cow – segmental flexion/extension mobility
Perform 8-10 reps x 2-3 sets, 1-2x/day
VIDEO COMING SOON
VARITATIONS OF THORACIC ROTATION EXERCISES
- Foam-roll assisted thread the needle
Perform on each side: 8-10 reps x 2-3 sets, 1-2x/day
https://studio.youtube.com/video/gJ2bvhgFIMw/edit
- Thoracic Rotation in half-kneeling
Perform on each side: 8-10 reps x 2-3 sets, 1-2x/day
- Quadruped, lumbar lock thoracic rotation
https://studio.youtube.com/video/_GFmTwggWxo/edit
Perform on each side: 8-10 reps x 2-3 sets, 1-2x/day