ribcage – ZacCupples.com

February 14, 2021 Zac Cupples

Limited Shoulder Motion, Where Should I Start?

You have someone who is limited with several different shoulder mobility measures, which should you tackle first? Find out in this post.

December 29, 2020 Zac Cupples

How to Improve Shoulder Internal Rotation

If you’ve been told you have GIRD, a forward head posture, or you slouch with reckless abandon, then i would definitely check out this post

September 12, 2020 Zac Cupples

Shoulder Flexion Troubleshooting

Can’t get overhead? Let’s figure out how! If you can raise your arm fully overhead WITHOUT compensating, don’t read any further! But if you are like most of us, reaching overhead probably draws its fair share of LOLZZZ. Yet raising your arm overhead is HELLA important for things like lifting weights, moving your neck freely, and even rotation through the ribcage. So if ya ain’t got it, you might want to work on it! That’s why I put out this debrief for you that dives into mechanics, what directions to reach and clarifies any confusion that may surround arm elevation biomechanics. Let’s channel our inner Josh Groban and raise you up (your arm that is).

June 27, 2020 Zac Cupples

Breathing: Biomechanics, Exercise, and Education

Do you ever get asked why are you breathing like that during an exercise? Or worse yet, maybe you’ve gotten in ANOTHER Facebook argument with some trainer or clinician who is skeptical of breathing. Despite typing feverishly, throwing all caps on that comment, everything you can, no luck. It’s interesting to consider why some peeps think of breathing as this separate piece from movement. It’s something esoteric, different. When in reality… Breathing affects pelvic floor dynamics, impacting how your hips move Breathing influences the intra-abdominal pressure needed to move heavy ass weights You upper body and cervical mobility can be impacted by breathing. Not sure if you know this, but uh, most of your upper quadrant muscles attach to the ribcage fam! Breathing isn’t something fancy, but an integral piece of how we move and perform. If maximizing your movement quality sounds like something you want to learn how to do, take advantage of breathing. To implement breathing into your training, you’ll need to learn some biomechanics, apply airflow to your favorite lifts, and educate others so you can show them the way, the truth, and the light. Don’t worry fam, I got you with Movement Debrief Episode 126.

June 17, 2020 Zac Cupples

Infrasternal Angle Presentations & Movement Compensations

Is the reason you can’t touch your toes tight hamstrings? Is your inability to go overhead because of tight lats? OR………….YES OR……. Does the structure of your body influence where you will be limited?

June 7, 2020 Zac Cupples

What is the Best Posture?

Ever argue with someone about good posture? Are you ready to tell them it’s all bullshit? We are meant to move, so the best posture is one that is constantly changing. In fact, research shows movement variability, the changes we unconsciously make within movements, is a marker of health and reduced injury. How beefed up would your posture knowledge be if you knew… What “good” posture actually is? Can you really be “stuck in extension?” What “stacking” is and why it’s essential to movement? What are the best cues to change someone’s posture? Well those are just a few of the many things you’ll learn in today’s video interview I did on Phillipe Gervais’ Youtube channel. It’s time to finally silence those posture junkies. Time to have that difficult conversation with your mom (cue childhood trauma of mom telling me to sit up straight). Time to take your movement knowledge to the next level! Watch the video below and prepare to deep dive! Photo credit: Steve Leggat

April 25, 2020 Zac Cupples

All About the Spine

How to maximize your spinal movement Movement Debrief Episode 118 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: What happens to the thoracic spine and scapulae during inhalation? What compensatory strategy is present with a Dowager’s Hump? What treatments should one with a Dowager’s Hump focus on? What sitting posture is best? Should restoring sagittal plane motion allow for rotation to occur, or must you focus on rotation? When can the spine present with excessive lumbar flexion? What is the action of the lower trapezius on the spine? When could recruiting the lower trapezius be useful? Is the cat-cow exercise useful? How does a spinal fusion impact respiration?

April 19, 2020 Zac Cupples

All About the Ribcage

Learn how reaching and improve upper body mobility Movement Debrief Episode 117 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: What order should I prioritize improving ribcage expansion? What is the manubriosternal joint? What happens when I have mixed compensations at the sternum? How can I encourage ribcage dynamics without increasing secondary compensations? What visual cues can I look at to see if someone can “stack?” What is different about infrasternal angle presentations between 90-110 degrees? How do I go about improving these particular infrasternal angle presentations? How can thoracic sidebending be useful with improving ribcage dynamics?

April 12, 2020 Zac Cupples

Reaching: Theory and Practice

Learn how reaching and improve upper body mobility Movement Debrief Episode 116 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: How does airflow change at various reaching angles? How does airflow change with trunk rotation? What is the scapular orientation during shoulder extension? How does one with a posterior thorax tilt present? How do different carry variations impact airflow? How does forearm supination and pronation impact reaching? How can we sequence carries in a manner that allows for maximal airflow expansion? How can you tell if someone is using a compensatory strategy when they are lifting weights?

January 4, 2020 Zac Cupples

Pregnancy, Pectus, and Bruxism – Movement Debrief Episode 106

Movement Debrief Episode 106 is in the books. Below is a copy of the video for your viewing pleasure, and audio if you can’t stand looking at me. Here is the setlist: How can pregnancy affect one’s ability to move? Can pregnancy change one’s infrasternal angle? What type of adjustments and considerations should we make for those who are pregnant? What is pectus excavatum? How can this structural change impact movement options? What type of exercises can we use to improve movement when someone has a pectus? What is bruxism? What is bruxism’s relationship to upper airway? What are other potential related factors to bruxism? What are some treatment considerations for someone who has bruxism?

January 1, 2020 Zac Cupples

Tag: ribcage