How to mobilise the thoracic spine with a foam roller
Transcript
Hi, I’m Lindsay and I am new to the POGO team and I am going to be talking you through some thoracic moving exercises. So your thoracic spine is the area of your spine from the very base of your neck to the very top of your spine.
One of the best ways to mobilise through this area is using one of the foam rollers. Using the full foam roller, put it on the ground, hands behind your neck, and then just rolling up and down over the area of your spine where you have got rifts. You can get to a certain point and then just lean back over those points. I prefer to do the top of my spine, with my bottom a bit higher up in the air and then the lower. Just with your bottom down a bit lower. It is important with the one that you only use it only in the area that you have got rifts.
Now you can use the half foam roller similarly while it is going to be stationary. Coming down over the top of the area, like so. If you don’t have one of these at home you can even roll up a towel and use that.
My next favourite thoracic movement mobility exercise is moving the spine into rotation. So using the roller is moving it backwards. With this one you want to keep your arms and elbows straight, and then put a little bit of weight down through one side of your body, keeping your elbow straight and with your opposite hand you are going to walk it through under your arm as far as you possible can holding for a couple of seconds then the same on the opposite side. With the threading the needle stretch you should feel it on the side that you are opening up from, so when you do it on the left hand side you should feel it on the left. You need to do that 5 times in each direction with a hold of 5 seconds, and then with the roller 1 minute up and down for your Thoracic spine.
Lindsay Christie (APAM)
Physiotherapist
