Improve Your Thoracic Mobility and Stability for Better Performance

Your spinal column plays a critical role in housing and protecting the nerve roots that descend from your brain and branch off to innervate cells throughout your body. Without strong muscles and connective tissues to support and stabilize your spine, you would not be able to walk, run, jump or play sports. Your thoracic spine in particular must be both mobile and stable if you want to optimize your physical performance.

Your thorax is the portion of your trunk located between your neck and your pelvis, made up of 12 thoracic vertebrae and your rib cage. The thoracic region houses many vital organs, including your heart and lungs. Whether you’re skiing down a slope, doing pirouettes or intercepting a football pass, a mobile and stable thorax is key to successful execution.

Your capacity to rotate and stabilize your thorax directly impacts the function of your cervical and lumbar spine as well, since they are connected. Moreover, an unstable thorax with limited range of motion can cause pain and dysfunction in your upper back, neck and shoulders, and can restrict your ability to breathe deeply.

A popular rule of thumb in rehab is, “Proximal stability for distal mobility, and distal stability for proximal mobility.” When skiing, you need perfect coordination of all your thoracic vertebrae with their associated muscles and ligaments, but stability comes from your foot and pelvis. Stability and mobility are fundamental to efficient pain-free movement.

The most influential muscles on thoracic mobility are the spinal erectors, rhomboids and trapezius, none of which are normally mechanically shortened or over-activated, and therefore do not need to be “released.” Foam rolling, however, can help release the thoracic vertebrae to increase mobility.

The latissimus dorsi and pectoralis muscles also play an active role in thoracic movement, and they both shorten and lengthen considerably, and are prone to tightness. Foam rolling and static stretching may help to relax and lengthen those muscle groups, to increase thoracic spinal rotation and mobility.

Stability can be achieved with a thorough biomechanical analysis and a protocol of physical therapy exercises designed to strengthen and rebalance the musculature of the thoracic spine.

NYDNRehab features the only complete outpatient motion and running analysis lab in NYC, equipped with technologies available only at the world’s top research labs. Efficient pain-free movement is key to all physical performance, whether you are an elite athlete going for the gold, or an average person with unwanted aches and pains.

As part of your total body analysis, we create a quantitative profile of your motor patterns to establish a baseline. We then define your physical therapy goals and begin working toward restoring full pain-free function. Your treatment plan may include chiropractic care, and some of your sessions may be done remotely via TeleHealth. By identifying and eliminating motor deficits, you will move better, sleep deeper and feel amazing, every day of your life.