Thoracic Spine Extension

| Foam Roll, Videos

We live in a very sedentary society. Do you ever think about how much you sit everyday? Many of us sit at a job for 7-8 hours a day, if not more. We are also sitting in our car or a bus commuting to and from work on top of that. We sit down to eat our meals. We are always staring at our phones. All of these contribute to poor posture!

What this creates is what we call a protracted shoulder girdle. Which means that our shoulders start rounding forward. This creates very tight pec muscles and your back muscles can become very weak and over stretched. This can also lead to a forward head posture and neck pain.

One of my favorite stretches on the foam roll is a thoracic spine stretch to help open up that tight chest and increase circulation. Check out the video above for instructions on how to correctly perform this stretch. Keep in mind no matter how much I like this stretch, performing a 45-60 seconds stretch will not completely counteract sitting for over 7-8 hours per day. However, adding this simple stretch into your routine can help stretch tight pec muscles and help address some postural deviations or at least help prevent them from getting worse.

Stretching should never be done when you are cold. You are more likely to get injured. Always make sure you are warmed up so that your muscles are more pliable and can stretch through a full range of motion. A passive warmup could be something as easy as a hot shower or a brisk walk.

If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

If you don't already have a foam roll, I recommend a 36-inch high density foam roll like this one #ad.

 

Stay tuned for more blog posts on how to get the most out of your foam roller!

Happy T-Spine stretching!

 

Dan Lippman Fitness may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase something through recommended links on this website.