Coach Dee Monday Video Series: The Thoracic Spine

Hey Enduro Bites athletes!

Coach Dee of the Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team here to for week five of six of the “after the weekend” videos to help you recover from the sports you played over the weekend!

Over the past five weeks we’ve looked at a few stretches for the pelvis area in the front, back and inside of the hip, as well as around the knee. This week we make the move from the lower body to the upper body starting with the thoracic spine.

A few things to remember:

1. Make sure you aren’t overtraining - ensure proper rest
2. Pay attention to your body with stretching and self-care, like in this series
3. It’s important to have a well moving thoracic spine and rib cage. It helps with breathing and posture, both crucial to all the sports you love to play!
4. Hydrate … period!
5. Warm up before activity or training.

Function - The thorax aka the “rib cage” is made up of the thoracic spine, the sternum and the clavicle, as it attaches to the sternum. It’s most important job is to protect your vital organs – like the heart, lungs, liver and main veins and arteries. Functionally it can flex, extend and rotate and it provides a platform for muscles to attach to. It also is the foundation for the scapula (shoulder blade) and arm. Keeping your thorax moving well is crucial to all of the sports and fun activities you love to do!

Do these two “global postural stretches” daily to improve your posture, breathing mechanics, and the health of your organs. They also help to increase body awareness! In fact, I encourage you to do them at work too!

Perform 30 second holds for each move and do 1-3 sets of each. Be sure to breathe and focus on the points explained in the video.