Get Twisty

This past weekend I decided to put my phone in airplane mode and craft woodworking projects with Eric. It felt good to disconnect and simply be in creation mode. We made a few things, mainly a tray with an owl (my favorite animal) on it. I strongly believe I can never have too many places to set my coffee, so I’m excited about it!  Here’s a quick pic:

Waking up on Monday morning, however, I was shocked at how stiff my mid back was from sanding. I also noticed I wasn’t breathing as deeply and had to make the conscious effort to fully expand my ribcage. Clearly, I mess my body up sometimes too. 

What about you? Does your mid back ever feel stiff, achy and tight? Does it feel difficult to twist or even easily lift your arms over your head? If so, you may have fascial restriction and a lack of mobility in your thoracic spine! Welcome to the club. Here are a few things I’ve been doing this week to loosen this area. We can do them together!

First, What is Your Thoracic spine?

Your thoracic spine (also called your T-spine) is comprised of the twelve vertebrae from right below your neck to below your shoulder blades. They are firmly attached to your ribs so I’m also including your whole ribcage and sternum as a part of the thoracic area. There is also quite a bit of fascia here. Fascia wraps around the bones of all your ribs, around the little muscles between your ribs (called intercostal muscles), and around your Latissimus Dorsi muscle (part of this muscle originates at T7).

How Can It Get Tight?

• Sanding wood apparently…
• Also prolonged sitting, especially with poor posture, inactivity, lack of overhead and twisting movement, and stress.

What issues Could It Cause?

I truly believe that fascial restriction in one area can potentially cause issues throughout the entire body, so please note you may find loosening your T-spine helps with more than just the following:

⦿Mid back stiffness

⦿Shallow breathing

⦿Shoulder pain

⦿Neck pain and stiffness

⦿Poor overhead mobility

⦿Difficulty twisting

⦿Headaches

 Foam Rolling Techniques to the Rescue

Ok, now onto what I’ve been doing to help this issue! Here is one of my favorite T-spine stretches to help mobilize your vertebrae:

Thoracic Spine Stretch

Since we discussed how part of your Lat muscle originates in the mid back, I’ve also been finding it very helpful to also do this fascia release technique:

 Lat Foam Rolling Technique

For me, the most concerning issue with a tight thoracic spine is shallow breathing. Shallow breathing is light breathing in your chest without full expansion of your ribcage. This type of breathing is also common with those who have high stress and anxiety. 

Ideally, we are breathing deep into our belly and expanding our ribcage fully. Mostly, it takes conscious practice. If you feel that your ribs feel stuck and like they are not moving much as you are attempting to expand outward, you can try this:

Breathing into the Foam Roller

Simply place the foam roller on your ribs while supporting most of your weight with the arm on the ground. If the pressure feels too intense, you can also wrap your foam roller in a yoga mat or blanket to give it more cushion. We want some compression of the fascia here, but no need to end up with a bruised rib! 

Once you are comfortable, relax and focus on your breath. Go for deep, belly breathing where your stomach expands outward and your ribcage expands fully. Breathing “into” the foam roller in this manner will help unstick the fascia. On your exhale, simply let go. No need for a forceful exhale or contraction of any muscles.  I recommend deep belly breathing about 15 times on each side. Depending on how tender your rib area is, you may start with less.

One last movement that I recommend is a lunge position twist against a wall. I like to do this after I have done the other three fascia release techniques so I have as much space in my thoracic fascia as possible and I’m in tune with my breathing.

Start with your left leg forward in a lunge position with your right hip and right shoulder against the wall. Right arm should begin against the wall up at shoulder height and bring your left arm over to match it (A.). Then, keeping your right arm, shoulder, and hip against the wall, slowly rotate from your T-spine (B.) and bring your left hand around to the wall (C). Go slowly, making sure your hips stay square and your head rotates with the rest of your upper body. Go as far as you can without losing form or straining, then slowly return to the start. Do 10 and switch to the other side and make sure you are deep breathing throughout this exercise.

Thoracic Rotation Exercise

.        

A.                                                                                                               B.

C.

I’m looking forward to hearing how these go for you! Feel free to reach out to me via email or Instagram.