One of the most important things to help address rounded shoulders, or kyphosis (technical term) is to increase mobility of the thoracic spine.
I know this sounds particularly iffy when you’re hyper-mobile because there’s always the threat of getting too far outside of a safe range of motion, which obviously increases our chances of injury. Annnnd this is a great example of why I always start with proprioceptive training to the scapula and shoulder girdle muscles before getting further into mobility as a way to help protect us from injuries caused by poor posture.
The overall goal is to increase thoracic spine mobility, but we should start this process by teaching the scapula how it should feel during specific movement patterns when properly aligned. I’m going to delve further into how proprioceptive training works in the near future, but for now, this is the primary goal - connecting movement patterns with more proper alignment.
Often when our shoulders are protracted (rounded) and we are moving from that position, our range of motion in various planes is unsafely increased because we are moving from positions with elongated, basically loose, muscles. By training parts of our body to move within safe and stable ranges of motion, we are neurologically connecting to new and safer movement patterns.
One of the most efficient ways to do this for the shoulders is in a supine position (lying on our backs), using the floor to provide a nice straight, sturdy surface of resistance. If lying down is not possible for any reason - no worries! Just stand or sit against a wall - or any type of hard surface behind - and perform the same movement patterns.
Move slowly with these, generally inhaling when lifting arms overhead or opening the chest, and exhaling when lowering or closing arms.
Note: 70 degrees of internal rotation, meaning the palm cannot touch the floor - is NORMAL. Never force anything, but especially here.
Think of these movements as trying to wiggle a car out of a tight parking spot, not ram your way out
Start with about 30 seconds (per side when applicable) and go through a couple of times if you’d like or just add them to whatever else you’re doing
How do I know these things work? Well, partially because science, but also because I tested it on myself. Check out the little before and after going up on TikTok later today without all this extra detail teehee.
Anywho. I've started so many things over the last couple of years to share what's helped me FEEL BETTER and burnt TF out doing it, and then realized I'm audhd, so here we are.
I can't wait to keep sharing.
Let me know if you'd like any clarification on these for now.
Stay regulated,
Shauna