Shoulder Foundation

No, I’m not talking the foundational shoulder movements.

The shoulder is composed of your upper arm bone and the scapula. Scapular positioning is a hot topic right now in rehab, and I love it! The scapula is the foundation for the humerus, but we can’t forget about the foundation of the scapula - the thoracic spine.

The thoracic spine is the segment of the spine that the ribs attach to, aka your thorax. Sitting, slumping over our phone, and curling up on the couch at night contribute to anterior chain (the front aspect of the body) tightness and a lack of extension in our joints. One victim of these positions is the thoracic spine. Extension in this area is key to scapular motion and health.

The scapula moves in many motions, and only moves as well as the thoracic spine. You can think of the thoracic spine as the foundation to scapular health, and therefore shoulder health.

Your thoracic spine needs to rotate, flex, extend, laterally flex and any combination of these. If you think of shoulder extension and the posterior tilt that I have blogged about previously, there should be a certain amount of thoracic extension that happens as well.

If you have complained or are complaining of a lack of shoulder ROM, play with some thoracic motion (most importantly being extension) and see if your shoulder motion increases.

Go check out my IG for videos on how to increase your thoracic mobility and create functional strength in your thoracic spine.