Foam roller or squishy ball mid back mobility drill
Video Transcript
Hello everyone, Dr. Alibhai here. Today, we’re going to show you a fantastic stretch that you can do with an inexpensive ball from a dollar store, or you can find one on Amazon. We often use these at home because of our kids, but you can also use a foam roller for this exercise. We’ll be focusing on opening up the middle of your back.
When we’re hunched over, our neck lacks mobility. But when your shoulders are rolled back and you’re upright, you have full neck range of motion, highlighting the importance of the thoracic spine for how we feel and our overall mobility. You’ll place this ball between your shoulder blades, right in the middle of your back where most of us feel a lot of tension.
Set the ball between your shoulder blades and position your hands behind your head in a comfortable posture. Avoid extending your neck back; instead, tuck your chin slightly and engage your core to keep your ribcage down.
You may want to take some deep breaths in and out and just relax here. Let your body melt into the ball and find any sore spots in your spine. If you find a tight spot, you might want to stay there a bit longer.
Take some deep breaths, breathing in and out. You might hear some pops and clicks, which is a normal release of tension in the spine. You can safely roll back and forth over these areas, or you might prefer to “scrub” back and forth along the spine to increase blood flow, which is also very relaxing.
You might also want to try some lateral bending from side to side, which is always a great way to open up the area.
Now, let’s switch to using a foam roller for another variation. Place the foam roller in the same middle back area. Keep your feet on the ground, your bum on the ground, and bring your elbows closer together. Keep your rib cage down, your neck slightly tucked, and your elbows pointing towards the back wall as you extend backward.
You’ll get more extension in the middle of your back, and you might want to rock back and forth over a few segments to increase motion.
Just hang out in this position and take a deep breath in, breathe out, and with each exhale, try to extend a little further.
This stretch feels great, and I encourage you to work on a few spots in the middle of your back. This is part of my nightly wind-down routine, and even if it’s just for 90 seconds a day, it makes a huge difference in reducing pain and tension and increasing relaxation.
Take care, have a great one. Bye now.
