Thoracic Mobility: Or lack thereof…

Thoracic Mobility (or lack thereof)

Importance of Thoracic Mobility

As discussed briefly in the topic of Functional Movement, posture will dictate pain. It can dramatically affect the quality of our movement, risk of injury, and overall health. Thoracic Mobility is a key component in dictating posture and movement.

Who sits at a desk for most of the day?

Who slumps while sitting during a class, meeting, or meal, and who has to continually check their posture while lifting and performing other forms of physical activity?

…….

In general, it’s easy to be lazy with our posture because we do not see immediate side effects. However long term side effects of poor posture can be painful, dangerous, and all too common.

A Quick Spinal Anatomy Lesson

Before we begin to talk about thoracic mobility specifically, let’s look at the structure of the entire spine, and how each of the parts of the spine have determined roles.

Working our way from top to bottom, the first 7 cervical vertebrae (C1-C7) within the spine are found in the neck, allowing for rotation of the head independently of the torso. The following 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1-T12) form part of the thoracic cage—along with the ribs and the sternum—which serve as the main protection to the visceral organs of the body, such as the heart, lungs, and esophagus (so, you know, pretty important). We will discuss shortly the specific function the thoracic vertebrae play in movement. Next, 5 large lumbar vertebrae (L1-L5) in the lower back bear most of the body’s weight. Finally, connected directly with the pelvis, is the sacrum (S1), composed of 5 fused vertebrae, and at the end of this structure is found the coccyx.

Side Effects of Poor Thoracic Posture

When one does not have good posture within the thoracic vertebrae there are many side effects. An extreme example of poor thoracic vertebral posture is called kyphosis. This can be seen in people who have abnormally rounded upper backs, and is commonly known as a hump, or hunchback. Yes, Quasimodo, the hunchback from Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, had a severe case of kyphosis! While this is an extreme spinal disorder, do your shoulders slump and round while seated, standing, or walking? While squatting or lifting heavy weights is it difficult to maintain enough force and keep your chest up? Do you have lower back or neck pain? These can all be effects of poor thoracic spine posture and mobility.

Lower back and neck pain can be directly caused by a misuse of the thoracic spine. Hip mobility is probably the most important and mostly commonly understood (we’ve often heard: “Push your hips back!”). It may be more difficult to understand the function of the thoracic spine—rotation, flexion and extension. These functions are commonly misunderstood and compensated as the functions of the lumbar spine. As mentioned above, L-Spine is built for stability and has enough responsibility.

Benefits of Increased Thoracic Mobility

With increased thoracic mobility, overhead lifts and exercises become much easier. Movements will not be impinged by the shoulder blades (scapulae) and chance of injury will decrease. It will also cause the placement of overhead weights to be more stable. The excuse that “my muscles are too big, I can’t move my arms that far” also diminishes unfortunately, but we believe safety is more important. Air volume in the lungs will also increase. Strength and explosiveness of movements improve as the pressure is not placed upon the lumbar spine which can now to provide stability.

In order to increase thoracic mobility, ask your doctor for appropriate exercises. Also check out some of our favorite mobility exercises. The most common is foam rolling—next week’s topic! Improved spinal posture not only makes us appear more confident aesthetically, More importantly it keeps us more mobile and comfortable while performing exercises and normal daily activities. Overall, this can reduce our risk of pain and injuries.

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