Tag: thoracic spine

Don’t EVER Do These Exercises

nlock your shoulder, neck, and upper body rotation mobility with a fresh perspective on thoracic or T-spine mobility. This blog post reveals the missing ingredient in most T-spine mobility drills – the movement of the ribs. Discover a four-step plan that includes improving front-to-back ribcage dimensions, expanding the posterior and anterior thorax, and driving progressive rotation under load. Learn how to enhance your mobility and unleash your movement with these practical and effective strategies.

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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).

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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.

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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?

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Pecs, Extreme Postures, and Foam Rolling – Movement Debrief Episode 81

Movement Debrief Episode 81 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 set list: Are pecs still useful in improving lower thorax variability? Do you still use pec squeezes in treatment? With extreme kyphosis or thoracic spine flattening, what test results are expected? What treatment recommendations are there for these posture types? Should visual postural changes be expected in these folks? Is self-myofascial release useful?

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Ankle Pinching, Prioritizing Ribs or Spine, and Deviated Septum – Movement Debrief Episode 78

Movement Debrief Episode 78 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 set list: What things should we consider with someone who gets anterior ankle pinching on movements? How does the ventral cavity impact the ankle? Are there any local things to do at the ankle? If I want to improve thoracic extension, do I need to address the ribs or the thoracic spine first? How can sinus issues affect movement variance? Should I get a deviated septum surgery? When is a surgical procedure like this warranted?

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Respiration and Posture for Better Sprinting and Lifting

Want to help your clients and athletes perform at a higher level by incorporating breathwork? I recently did a q&a over at Simplifaster, where we discussed all things breathing, performance, and training. Below is a list of the questions I answered: The difference between the breathing patterns seen in strength training and in dynamic athletic performance. How breathing on the ground transfers to what happens when standing and moving around? The top priorities in training an athlete’s trunk and midsection How to deal with common “thoracic spine mobility” deficit in athletes How to use “big lifts” for athletes, squatting and deadlifting, in light of muscle activation and posture How to progress single leg exercise progression Click on the link below to check it out Respiration and Posture for Better Sprinting and Lifting

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Breathing, Thoracic Spine, and When it’s Safe to Load – Movement Debrief Episode 63

Movement Debrief Episode 63 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 set list: How should the ribcage move during normal respiratory mechanics? How should the abdominal wall expand during normal respiratory mechanics? How should breathing during variability-based activities be coached? What are normal compensatory thoracic spine presentations with narrow and wide infrasternal angles? How can someone present with different thoracic spine orientations despite these “normal” strategies? What can you do to improve thoracic spine mobility in these cases? Is it safe to load compensatory movement strategies? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram. They air every Wednesday at 7pm CST. Enjoy! and the audio version…                  Here were the links I mentioned: Check out Human Matrix promo video below Below are some testimonials for the class Want to sign up? Click on the following locations below: Kansas City, KS on October 27-28th  Portland, OR on November 10-11  December 8th-9th, Charleston, SC (early bird ends November 11th) February 2nd-3rd, 2019, New Providence, NJ (early bird ends January 4th) Want to get a handout that explains normal respiratory mechanics? Click here, you’ll see pictures of the ribcage mechanics I mentioned Here is a link to the infrasternal angle debriefs Here is a link to the pumphandle debrief. Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages

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Asymmetrical Infrasternal Angle, SI Joint Tests, and Imaginary Lat Syndrome – Movement Debrief Episode 55

Movement Debrief Episode 55 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 set list: What is an asymmetrical infrasternal angle? What activities would improve an asymmetrical infrasternal angle? How do SI joint tests compare to an obers test for SI joint dysfunction or pelvic rotation? What is this testing really looking at? What is imaginary lat syndrome? What is the latissumus dorsi’s role in this syndrome? What can be done to impact imaginary lat syndrome? Are they any particular areas to consider cupping for a common movement pattern? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook or Instagram.They air every Wednesday at 7pm CST. Enjoy! and the audio version…                  Here were the links I mentioned: Sign-up for the Human Matrix in Seattle, WA on September 15-16th here Sign up for the Human Matrix in Kansas City, KS on October 27-28th here   Sign-up for the Human Matrix in Portland, OR on November 10-11 here Here is a picture of an asymmetrical infrasternal angle Below is one of my go-to moves for an asymmetrical infrasternal angle Below is the Gillet Test (Courtesy of Physiotutors) Intraexaminer and interexaminer reliability of the Gillet test. Inter- and intra-examiner reliability of single and composites of selected motion palpation and pain provocation tests for sacroiliac joint Palpation of the sacroiliac joint: An anatomical and sensory challenge Use of an inclinometer to

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How to Deadlift – A Movement Deep Dive

Deadlift – A Total Body Workout It is hard to find a better fundamental exercise than the deadlift. A time-tested move that ought to be learned by all—whether you’re a professional athlete, bodybuilder, fitness client, or grandma with back pain. What if you don’t know how to deadlift? Or maybe you just want to get better at coaching it? You’ve come to the right place. This “Movement Deep Dive” focuses on the deadlift and all of its variants. You’ll learn why the deadlift is so important, how to do it progressing and regressing the moven, and how to fix common errors. So grab some chalk, branched chain amino acids, pen, and paper. This one’s a mother. If you can’t watch the video right away, I’ve provided a modified transcript below. I would recommend both watching the video and reading the post to get the most out of the material. Learn on!

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