Spinal mobility is the key to an active life
November-December 2025
Standing Thoracic Wall Stretch
by Vanessa LaFaso Stolarski, Contributing Columnist
Your attempt to reach a cabinet shelf is thwarted by a painful pinch in the shoulder. You can’t avoid bending at the waist whenever you lower down to a chair or a squat. You struggle to take full breaths when you are exercising. The culprit? Lack of thoracic extension.
Your thoracic spine is the middle of your back. It starts at the bottom of your neck and ends at the bottom of your ribs. It consists of 12 vertebrae.
The spine helps us twist, bend and reach. It also allows us to breathe freely because the ribs are attached to the thoracic vertebrae. If the spine can’t move, we will struggle to take deep breaths. Additionally, when the thoracic spine cannot extend properly, the body compensates by excessively rotating and elevating the shoulder blades or scapulae. This creates impingement in the shoulders and results in pain and discomfort when reaching overhead.
Here are four movements designed to improve thoracic extension. You can perform them daily in the morning or at night. Pick one or two you know you’ll be consistent with. Then switch them up from month to month. You may do these as often as you like throughout the day.
As always, please take any medical conditions or physical limitations you may have into consideration before attempting any of these exercises. They may not be for everyone.
STANDING THORACIC WALL STRETCH
- Stand facing a wall at an arm’s distance away.
- Bend at the waist and put your hands on the wall.
- Push your chest down through your arms while keeping them on the wall.
- Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
Seated Thoracic Rotation
SEATED THORACIC ROTATION
- Sit on a chair or the floor.
- Keeping your hips planted, cross your arms over your chest and gently twist the torso to one side. You can use the back of the chair to assist you with a deeper twist.
- Rotate back to center and twist the other way.
- Gently go back and forth until you can twist naturally with more ease.
Quadruped Thoracic Rotation
QUADRUPED THORACIC ROTATION
- Begin on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips.
- Place one hand behind your head and rotate your torso so that your elbow is upward.
- Return to center and then repeat on the other side.
Wall Angels
WALL ANGELS
- Stand with your back against a wall with your heels about 6 inches away.
- Raise your arms over your head as far as you can without your back arching. It’s OK if your elbows are bent. The goal, however, is to be able to reach overhead with straight arms and a flat back.
- Slide your elbows down the wall, like you are trying to put them in your pockets, then slide them back up again.
- Keep your upper back flat against the wall while raising your arms up and down.
- See if you can notice more ability to straighten your arms overhead after a few passes.
A mobile, thoracic spine keeps you feeling limber, promotes greater oxygen uptake and allows you to keep up with your active life. Just a few minutes of thoracic work per day can go a long way toward a healthier, happier spine.
Vanessa LaFaso Stolarski is a certified nutrition counselor, weightlifting coach, life coach and stress-management specialist.
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