While we often talk about the general benefits of mobility, there’s one specific type that seems to fall through the cracks:
Spinal mobility, more specifically Thoracic Mobility.
The reason we probably don’t think much about spinal mobility is because the spine is perceived as something we don’t usually worry about until we’re older. However, having a mobile spine can provide tremendous performance and health benefits, regardless of your age!
Here I break down why working on this type of mobility is truly worthwhile.
The Epic Benefits of Thoracic Mobility
When we refer to our “spine,” we’re referring to the upper and middle portion of your back, which is technically called the thoracic spine. It not only houses vital nerves running to our brains, but also acts as an anchor for our rib cage, which protects critical organs.
Because the spine is designed to be flexible, it can move through various planes simultaneously. For instance, it can perform a side bend while rotating, or a spinal twist with extension. As you can imagine, the natural ability of our spines can be highly beneficial in sports, and even in daily life when situations call for quick movements and/or rotations.
However, in the modern age, we’ve lost a ton of spinal flexibility, primarily due to always moving in just one or two planes. Aka: we stand up, we sit down, we bend over. Often, that’s the extent of our movement patterns.
This is one of the reasons I encourage movement flows so heavily, because they utilize the dynamic range of your spine, increasing its mobility. In flows, your body rotates, bends, flexes, extends, etc … which naturally mobilizes and strengthens your spine simultaneously.
Here are several more benefits of having a mobile spine:
1. Improves Proper Form + Posture
It doesn’t even really need to be stated anymore that many of us suffer from less-than-ideal posture. And we know that we can thank computers and phones for that.
Fortunately, working on spinal mobility can greatly improve your posture, which has huge benefits even beyond aesthetics. Proper posture can help reduce pressure on your knees and lower back, which can help ease joint pain and/or inflammation.
Plus, proper posture can also help you maintain adequate form while working out, which not only helps prevent injuries, but can also improve your performance and results. To give an example: a person who has a mobile body and spine that allow them to maintain proper squat form will be able squat deeper, activating more muscles throughout their lower body than someone who is immobile. Naturally, the mobile person is likely to get better results.
2. Can Improve Breathing
While this one seems odd on the surface, it makes sense when you consider the body as a connected system. Since your spine is responsible in part for holding your body upright and connecting your upper and lower body, it makes sense that it could impact the positioning of your organs.
One of those is your lungs: an immobile spine (which can lead to bad posture) can actually affect your breathing. Our lungs need adequate room to expand, and if stiffness and posture are stopping the lungs from expanding fully, it could restrict your breathing.
Obviously, breathing in general is important, but this can also impact your performance. If you’re unable to get enough oxygen to support your workouts, then you may find yourself feeling sluggish and/or tired faster.
3. Can Improve Execution + Mitigate Injury Risk
Whether you’re in a sport, or just plain desire an optimally-functioning body, increasing spinal mobility can work wonders. Being able to execute movements fluidly and effectively (without injury) is great for everyone, and particularly athletes. Increasing the flexibility of your spine allows your body to move and rotate through all planes dynamically, and can drastically increase functional movement.
Athletes with a mobile spine may also be able to rotate further and duck and weave faster and more efficiently. As you can imagine, this is highly useful in competitions where every advantage counts.
Having a mobile spine also brings us back to the old bamboo metaphor: if your spine is stiff, like wood, it has a higher likelihood of breaking during an impact. Instead, if it is bendy, like bamboo, it is less likely to break under force.
How to Improve Spinal Mobility
The best way to improve your spine mobility is to practice a few minutes of mobility movements everyday. This helps keep stiffness at bay. Ideally, practice these during your warm-ups and cool-downs for maximum effect.
If you feel your spine is very stiff from lack of movement, you can even consider massage to help loosen the muscle around your spine alongside starting your mobility movements.
Below is a spinal mobility series I put together that you can try out:
Spinal Mobility Series:
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