Seated Thoracic Rotation
Demonstration photo coming soon
Part of these sets
This exercise rarely works alone. It appears in the following routines, where it is sequenced alongside the others that support it.
What it works
Primary muscles
- Thoracic spine rotators (multifidus, semispinalis)
Also involved
- Obliques
- Deep neck muscles, which work less once the mid back shares the rotation
Equipment: An upright chair
How to do it
- 1
Sit tall on an upright chair, feet flat, knees together. Cross your arms over your chest, hands resting on opposite shoulders.
- 2
Grow tall through the crown of your head, then rotate your chest and shoulders to one side as far as is comfortable, letting your head and eyes follow.
- 3
At the end of the range, breathe out slowly. You will usually find a little more rotation on the exhale. Do not force it.
- 4
Return to the middle with control and rotate to the other side.
- 5
Keep your knees pointing forward throughout. If they swing, the movement has escaped into your hips.
How much to do
8 to 10 rotations each side
Once or twice a day, every day
Stiff mid backs respond to frequency more than force. A daily minute of honest rotation beats an occasional long session, and it makes the neck work in the rest of your programme easier.
Stop and get assessed if
Stop and get assessed if rotation provokes dizziness, visual disturbance, pins and needles, or sharp rib or chest pain. A stiff mid back should feel stiff when you turn, nothing more dramatic than that.
Common mistakes
- Rotating from the hips or lower back
- If your knees drift apart or swing sideways, your pelvis is turning and the mid back is being spared the work. Keep the knees together and pointing forward so the rotation has to happen above them.
- Slumping first, then turning
- A flexed spine rotates poorly, so a slumped rotation moves less than it feels like it does. Sit tall before each turn: length first, then rotation.
- Using speed and momentum
- Swinging through the movement lets the mobile segments do everything while the stiff ones sit it out. Slow rotation asks every level of the spine to contribute.
- Chasing a sharp or localised pain
- The feeling should be a firm, spread-out stretch across the mid back. Sharp pain in one spot means you are levering on it, so reduce the range and rebuild gradually.
Making it harder
- Place your hands behind your head with elbows wide. The longer lever adds range and asks more of the mid back.
- Add a reach: as you rotate, open the outside arm and follow the hand with your eyes, then bring it back as you return to the middle.
- Pair it with extension: rest your upper back over the chair back, support your head with your hands, and gently arch backwards. Rotation and extension together cover the two movements desk sitting takes away.