It’s been a hot minute! Quarantine definitely threw me (and just about everyone) off a schedule, and that obviously affected this blog way more than I would have liked. But better late than never? :) Without further ado…

This week we’re talking thoracic strength!! (If you missed the post about thoracic mobility, it’s also a great one to check out, especially paired with this one!! Just hit the arrow at the bottom of the page for the blog post just previous to this one). Oh, and if you aren’t sure, your thoracic spine starts just above your shoulders blades and goes until about mid back below them.

So first of all, why is thoracic strength important?

It is what allows for “good posture” (in quotations, because definining good posture is a whole other can of worms) in just about anything. Yes, mobility is going to play a factor here as well, but even with fantastic mobility, if you don’t have strength and endurance in this area, there is only so long you’re going to be able to sit or stand with “chest up, shoulders back”. You’ll enevitably slump your shoulders forward because the muscles that help keep that position will simply not be able to anymore. (Again, we could get into what “good posture” is - but I will at least briefly state that there is NOTHING wrong with slumping forward from time to time. Hell, I do it. But you want this to be a choice to move through different postures. Not because of muscular fatigue)

As a CrossFitter and/or Oly lifter, if you don’t have thoracic strength, there will be a very apparent ceiling on your lifts, particularly the front squat and cleans. Same for overhead press. Actually, same for a crapload of things. Ever gotten a bar in the front rack, gone down into a front squat, only to find that you can’t keep your elbows high enough to keep the bar from dumping forward? That’s because of a lack of sufficient thoracic strength to keep that front rack position under load. The same can happen when you catch a clean. I know I’ve definitely had this happen more than once before, especially when I’m working up to heavier weights. And have you ever tried a Z press?! It’s SIGNIFICANTLY harder than a strict press performed standing because it forces you to use thoracic strength and doesn’t allow you to use lumbar strength. (I’m sure most of you are like WTF is a Z press?! Don’t worry, it’s the first drill listed below) Give it a try and see how it compares to a normal strict press - I bet you’ll be shocked!

Ok, so I’m sure you’re like “Cool. It’s important. Got it. Now what? How do I actually do something about it??” Here are some of my go-to drills to improve thoracic strength:

Z Press

• If you read the thoracic mobility post, this one will look awfully familiar. This is becuase this exercise does a double whamy with improving mobility and strength simultaneously! Honestly one of my favorite accesory drills. Try to keep your legs straight and trunk up tall.

• NOTE: This video shows only one arm. For thoracic strength and mobility, it’s better to do both at once.

Zercher (squats, lunges, step ups, walks, …anything really)

• Zercher is simply the name of a barbell racking position: in the crux of your elbows. Yup, you heard me right. And no, it’s not the most comfortable thing. If you have a barbell pad available, that’ll help. Having the barbell in this position will make it try to pull you forward, so you’ll have to tighten you upper back to fight that force - voila, thoracic strengthening! The video shows me doing step ups and then reverse lunges, but you can also just hold the barbell loaded up and walk with it (don’t let your back arch to over compensate) or do front squats

Sotts Press

• These are fun and crazy hard, especially the first couple of times you try them. I legit fell forward the first time I tried these (with a barbell). Demonstating here with a plate, but you can really use whatever. The idea is to hold the bottom of a squat (if you struggle to maintaing this position, you can set up a band around your back attached to a rig in front of you to help you stabilize) and then press the weight up into the overhead position. It wasn’t in the last post, but this does also address thoracic mobility.

Scap Angels

• These were also in the mobility post last time! Brings you back to the days of snow angels (so like a few months ago in Flagstaff for me). Don’t let your back arch with these, and keep the elbows straight.

Mixed Rack Carries

• Here you’re going to have one weight locked out overhead (can even do bottoms up for some extra shoulder stability work!) and one weight in the front rack position. The goal is to keep the elbow on the side in the front rack position up high and then the arm that’s up overhead stays locked out with elbow straight and arm positioned close to your head, arm right behind your ear. I often mix these into my workout with 100-400m carries, switching arm positions halfway, in each round of whatever the workout is.

There are so many more great ones, but these tackle thoracic strength incredibly well.

Questions/comments? Drop them below or text me at 480-751-2137.