Monday Mobility – Thoracic Spine  [Victoria BC CrossFit]

Thoracic Spine Mobility and Why it is Important:

Our coach, Massage Therapist and Personal Trainer Kirby Bohan, BHSc is the person to go to when it comes to improving your thoracic mobility. For more information please contact her directly.

Having adequate mobility through our thoracic spine is important for a lot of reasons, it helps keeps our torsos in a strong, stable position when we are doing any movement that involves our arms either from our front rack or overhead positions.

If you have limited range through your thoracic spine, your shoulders are not going to be able to move efficiently and support loads throughout certain movements.

These mobility exercises will translate into having a stronger Overhead press, Front Rack position, Clean and Jerk, and Snatch.

Foam rolling is a great place to start: (Have a PVC pipe or broomstick handy, you will need this shortly)

Foam Rolling with Thoracic Extension:

• Place the roller horizontally across your back
• Lift your bottom up and place your hands under your head to support your neck
• Roll up and down your back for roughly 30 seconds (this feels really good and you might feel some creaks and cracks as you go through it.
• Find a spot along your thoracic spine that feels tight (generally around the bottom of your shoulder blades for most people)
• Now place your bottom down on the ground and pick up the PVC pipe
• Hold the PVC pipe straight in front of your chest
• Keeping your arms straight, take them overhead and slowly bring back to the centre of your chest

 (If you do notice your neck getting sore, either rest it back or do fewer repetitions at a time)

Keep a hold of that foam roller and stand up and get close to a wall.

Wall Thoracic Extension:

• Place the foam roller horizontally, at eye level against the wall
• Hold the roller in place by placing your forearms against it
• Start with your wrists on the roller with palms facing each other
• Roll your arms up the wall, poking your head through the space between your arms
• Control the movement back down to eye level and repeat
• Ensure to keep a neutral spine whilst going through the movement