Do you sit at a desk all day? Have you been curling up on the couch at home? Do you have difficulty keeping your chest open during overhead lifting exercises? Do you get grilled for having “bad posture”? Your thoracic spine may not be getting the love it needs! If you are sitting or slouched for long periods of the day, your mid-back, or thoracic spine, can become stiff and restricted. A restricted thoracic spine can cause issues not only in your back, but also your neck and shoulders, as these areas commonly have to compensate for the lack of movement in your thoracic spine. Through compensating, these joints and muscles around the thoracic spine can have more load and stress placed on them which can ultimately lead to injury. So your shoulder or neck injury may actually be coming from your back! Don’t let your thoracic spine hold you back from achieving your goals in 2019! Fix those rounded shoulders and improve your thoracic spine mobility with these 3 simple exercises from Precision Physios; Sam Dally. 
T-Spine Foam Roll
- Lying on your back, place the foam roller under your back, just underneath your shoulder blades
- Bend your knees and place your hands around the back of your neck, bringing your elbows together
- Whilst keeping your bottom on the floor slowly lean back over the foam roller until you feel a comfortable pressure on your mid-back
- If it’s too uncomfortable or painful you’ve leaned too far back
- Hold this position for 5-10sec taking nice deep breaths
- Then slowly move the foam roller slightly lower down the back to focus on other segments
- Continue for 30-45sec
Bows + Arrows
- Lying on your side with bent knees place your arms outstretched to the side, keeping them together
- With your knees together on the floor, slowly bring your top arm backwards as if you are pulling the string of a bow
- Try to touch to the floor on the opposite side with your elbow, opening up your chest
- Hold for 2 seconds at end of range and then slowly return back to the starting position
- Repeat 10x each side
- If you have difficulty getting down to the floor, you can do a variation of this in a sitting position, placing your hand on the opposite knee and rotating to the side
Twisting Turtles
- On the floor, place your hands behind your neck and start on all fours, kneeling on your knees and elbows
- Keeping your hips still, rotate one elbow to the side, following the elbow with your head until you feel comfortable pressure in your mid-back
- If it’s too uncomfortable or painful you’ve rotated too far
- Hold for 2 seconds at end of range and then slowly return back to the starting position
- Repeat 10x each side
Give these three exercises a go and we’re positive you’ll start to feel the benefits in next to no time! If you would like more personalised advice, or to speak to Sam about these movements, please call our St Marys clinic on 02 9623 2220.
