The Best Exercises for Spinal Rotation

Spinal rotation is not something you've probably thought about recently.

In fact, rotation is rarely considered or trained for as a range of motion or as an athletic movement pattern.

So why should you care?

Spinal Rotation is Critical for Sports Such As:

Baseball
Hockey
Tennis
Golf
Swimming, etc, etc

Even if you don't play one of those sports, you need rotation.

Your neck, shoulder, and low back health may be depending on it.

If you don't have rotation (in the right places) you will run into dysfunction or outright injury. So where do we need rotation to come from and why is it missing?

Where you are missing rotation is the thoracic spine (t-spine). Why you are missing range of motion is primarily Bad Desk Posture

Poor thoracic mobility can cause problems in the neck, shoulder, low-back, and hip. It is important that you know how to fix it.

What Is The Goal?

There are many thoracic spine mobility exercises and drills out there on the internet. Some of them are good, but many fall a little short or don't isolate the right areas. The video above shows 4 of my personal favorite thoracic spine mobility exercises.

No matter which thoracic mobility drill you try, there is one major goal that must be achieved during all of the different mobility exercises:

Motion must come from the thoracic spine and not the lumbar spine.

I cringe whenever I go to a yoga class and hear a new instructor encouraging someone to feel the stretch in their low back.

No, no, no!

Dr. Stewart McGill (author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance) debunked this myth years ago. The lumbar spine (as a general rule) does not need more motion. It already moves too much in the average athlete because it is sandwiched between the stiff thoracic spine and the tight, immobile hips.

What we need are thoracic spine mobility and lumbar stability.

How to get thoracic spine mobility in extension and rotation is the topic of today's video.

Thoracic Spine Exercises for Posture

The first two exercises in the video address the fundamental problem: poor posture.

If your t-spine is stuck in flexion, it is never going to be able to rotate.

The exercises with the foam roller and lacrosse balls work on fixing the lack of thoracic spine mobility. The foam roller is a good, slightly more gentle introduction for most people. The lacrosse balls are the next level of intensity. You can position them at various spine segments to allow for pinpoint control over which spine segments you are mobilizing. More intense but more effective!

Thoracic Spine Mobility Exercises for Rotation

After you work on thoracic spine extension, you can also focus on thoracic rotation.

The first exercise in the video is more of an active mobilization (using your strength to move into end-range) whereas the second exercise is more of a passive rotation (relaxing into end-range.)

I believe you need both.

Remember: in both exercises we want to limit the amount of lumbar motion. This seems easy but most athletes with poor thoracic mobility fail this task and rotate from the lumbar spine. This is where a good coach with a trained eye can be helpful.

Conclusion:

Test your thoracic spine rotation then do the 4 exercises. Feel how much better your posture feels. Think about how that will translate to your life and sport. If you need a full-blown 45-day program to fix your posture & neck pain – check out the details below: