MAY 2019 RUNNERSWORLD.COM/UK 079IMPROVE YOUR
TRUNK RANGE
As you rotate, particularly if
you have a stiff thoracic spine,
you will find that your lower
ribs do not expand fully as
you breathe deeply. This
restricts your breathing in
the diaphragm and upper
ribs, reducing your breathing
efficiency. To test this, sit
upright, place your hands on
your lower ribs and monitor
It might sound odd, but we
get into the habit of using the
upper ribs and not the lower
ones; because of this, the
respiratory muscles are under-
used and become weak.
The improvement process
is twofold. Firstly, you need
to work on your thoracic
range and deep breathing,These build trunk rotation into
running-style movements.
Start with your hands across
your shoulders. Lunge and, at
the bottom of the lunge, turn
toward the forward knee as
far as you can without losing
shoulder stability. Do eight
reps for six sets. To make it
harder, hold a medicine ball
(1-3kg) in front of you and turn,how much they move when
you breathe in and out while
facing forwards. Then twist
to the right as far as possible
and breathe deeply again. The
left-side ribs will move almost
as much, but the right less so.
However, there needs to be
some movement on the right.
If there is not, you need to
work on it (3). Test both sides.as described in 1 and 2. Once
you have some movement
available, place your hands on
your lower ribs and practise
breathing with them. Do this
exercise several times a day
for a minute at a time, as well
as when you run or exercise,
to make it part of your normal
movement pattern.with the weight leading. To
do this with the breathing
exercise, tie a light resistance
band around your lower ribs,
tight enough that you’re aware
of it but not so tight that you
can’t breathe easily. Repeat
the lunges and rotations and
breathe into the band using
your lower ribs. Repeat eight
times for three sets.- LOWER RIB BREATHING-RANGE TEST
3. LOWER RIB BREATHING-RANGE EXERCISE
4. LUNGE WITH ROTATION
Typically, a restriction is
focused in three or four of
the 12 thoracic vertebrae, so
movement goes through the
mobile segments while the
stiff ones remain stiff. Focus
on the restriction. Sit upright,
place your hands on your
shoulders (as in the test, left)
and turn your trunk. Bend
forward until you feel the
stiffness increase in your
spine. Hold the bend at that
point and twist with a pulsing
motion into the tightness.
Take three deep breaths
in this position. Work for
a minute, then test your
range again. Repeat three
or four times a day.- TRUNK ROTATION WITH FLEXION
BODY + MIND