HOW IMPROVING YOUR THORACIC MOBILITY COULD HELP WITH YOUR: NECK PAIN, SHOULDER PAIN, LOW BACK PAIN, HIP PAIN….and more
At Linchpin Performance, we are always assessing mid-back (thoracic) mobility. Unlocking this area can be a game changer for people and can be a ‘linchpin’ for getting you past that injury. Due to its central location in the body, limited thoracic mobility can negatively impact the lower back and extremities, as well as the shoulder and neck.
It’s safe to say that if you don’t have adequate thoracic mobility, you are putting yourself at risk for injury. At best, you have an inefficient system with force leaks and compensations.
This article aims to help people understand why thoracic mobility is important, and to give some helpful movement strategies to curate and maintain optimized movement.
When talking about these concepts of mobility/stability, I always like to refer people to Michael Boyle’s model. This model essentially says, “if you are immobile in the areas you are supposed to be mobile in, or if you are unstable in the areas that you are supposed to be stable, you are putting yourself at risk for future injury.”
Ankles: Mobile
Knees: Stable
Hips: Mobile
Pelvis/Sacrum/Lumbar: Stable
Thoracic Spine: Mobile
Shoulder Blades: Stable
Glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint): Mobile
Elbow: Stable
Wrist: Mobile
Lower Cervical Spine: Stable
Upper Cervical Spine: Mobile
If you lack mobility in your thoracic spine, your body is going to compensate upstream or downstream. People are highly task-oriented and get the movement done in whatever manner possible. But when we are inefficient in movement, a lot of the mobility demands will be pulled from other areas that ought not be that mobile. For example: the lumbar spine and shoulder blades. This puts undue stress on the system. And inefficiencies lead to incidences which lead to injury.
Your goal should be to avoid that.
Here are some of my favorite drills to unlock the thoracic spine:
Foam Roller
Typically I start off with a few minutes of focused foam rolling to the mid-back. Open up the joints, get some blood flow, some nice pops. Then I’ll move into more active mobility if I’m preparing to work out.
If this is a passive recovery, I’ll just hang out for a while to work the tightness out. I like to work in some breath work while in here.
Open Book
Locking your hips down with a bolster helps to ensure you are getting good mobility. Actively move through the ranges of motion if you are preparing for a workout. If you are working it more as a recovery option, feel free to hold the stretched position and work on some long exhales.
Thoracic Rotation w/ Reach
This is an active drill. I’m not too worried about the driver hand placement. You’ll see variations with the hand on the head, hand behind the back, or hand just traveling in space (thread the needle). The reach shown here gives a little bit more ‘ooomph’ to the stretch.
Thoracic Rotation w/ Band Overpressure
Some people need a little bit more help getting to their ‘end range’. This variation helps out with that. I encourage people to hang out in that end range for a few seconds and actively push into it.
Half Kneel Two-Way Opener
A quick and easy one— This is my personal go-to and it really does the trick. Ensuring the lower body is stable throughout the movements is pivotal.
All in all, thoracic mobility is pretty important. It can help with myriad things including low back pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, headaches…etc. This list of exercises is not exhaustive or prescriptive; play with all of them. Find one or 2 that really feel like they are opening you up. Sprinkle these in during your warm-up or in the evening before bed as a recovery tool, as they are well worth your time and energy.
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