This is a another exercise to improve mid back and low back flexibility. The foam roller is a good tool to mobilize the spine. The exercise can also help you strength the core and glute muscles.

Tweetables:

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Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you an exercise to improve the mobility of the lower thoracic spine, so your mid and lower back area. So often because of people sitting too much, you tend to get stiffness in the hip and you get a lot of stiffness in this region. So because of prolonged poor postures where someone is sitting in these positions, you can get a lot of stiffness in this area. So if I’m too stiff here, I’m too stiff here, I got to move somewhere else. So I’m going to start hinging and moving or be getting hypermobile or unstable through the low back, often resulting in low back problems and pain or sacroiliac joint issues.

So one of the things we can do is we can improve the mobility of the lower thoracic area. So if I’m moving better there, I don’t have to hinge or move so much in the lower back. So we’re going to use a foam roller for this one, and this is a really easy technique and almost anyone can do it. You could do it on the floor. I’m going to do it here so it’s easy for you guys to see.

Now, what I’m going to do is, usually a foam roller, you see a lot of the exercises are targeted for the upper part of the upper back and the ribcage and the spine, but we’re going to reverse that. So I’m going to place this around the area where I want to target. So let’s say if I want to go right around here, I’m stiff in this area, I’m going to place this here and I can control how much extension or range I want to get out of this, how much mobility I want to get out of this. So all I do is, if I’m really stiff, I’m going to bridge up. I can get my glutes, my abdominals. So I do two things at once that way. So I get some strengthening done and I can work on mobility.

So now all I’m going to do is I’m just going to drop my pelvis straight down. As I drop it down, you can see I start to get some arching through my mid and lower back. And I want to target my lower part of my thoracic spine more, this region, so I’m going to scoot down a little bit because if I’m stiffer there, now I can let that pelvis drop down further and I can really start to target this area. So I let my body weight do the job. I let it drop down, take a deep breath as I go down, and you can see how the ribcage also expands – inhale.
Or I could do more movement-based stuff where basically what I do is I drop down, stretch, and then I come back up. I drop down, take a deep breath, stretch, tighten my glutes and abdominals, and I raise back up. So now I’m doing more movement-based stuff. And again, you don’t have to stay in one spot. You can move around a little bit. So if I can slide down a bit more, then I can do the exact same thing. So if you hit it from different angles, you might find certain spots are stiffer for you.

And again, you don’t have to go all the way down as I’m doing. If you’re really stiff and it is not comfortable, limit how far you go down. You can control that with your legs and your pelvis. So maybe I go down 50% and I just hang out there, and I take some deep breaths and I come back up. So, another great way to start getting mobility in this region as well as work on some strengthening too, and pretty easy to control.
Now, if you find that foam roller or this size is too big for you, you can even start with a smaller-size foam roller which is not as thick. This is about six inches. You can get one with a smaller band. There are three-inch ones available also. Or, for that matter, you can even roll up a thick towel and then it won’t be as rigid as this but it’ll still allow you to do some of those movements also.

So spend a few minutes at a time working on different spots and you can build to five to 10 minutes. Now, keep in mind, if you’re really irritated through the low back and you do this exercise, and if you find that it starts to irritate the low back further where you continue to hinge at those spots that are irritated, you might have to ease off a bit or you might have to roll back and forth and find a position where it’s comfortable for you.

I hope you found that useful, and make sure you subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have questions, and make sure you check out the site. Thanks.