Survival of the Fittest

Naturally, Valentine’s Day led me to thoughts of sugar. In particular, the heavenly cupcakes from Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, which made an all-too-brief appearance in my household for the holiday.

But the occasion stirred up something else — a sweet, sweet memory of something my childhood gymnastics teacher called the “sugar bowl.” (Also called a “king cobra” in yoga.)

Essentially, you lie on your front, palms on the floor near your ribs, and slowly arch your head and body backward, using your hands for support. You then bend both legs at the knee and touch your toes (or heels, even) to the top of your head. Presto, change-o, you become a sugar bowl.

And I used to be able to do that! Out of curiosity, I tried to recreate the experience this morning, and was instead left with a bad taste in my mouth.

All that remains of my sugar-bowling skills are the ability to look upward and the ability to bend my legs. Not very impressive. The length of my body from knee to shoulder, on the other hand, will only agree to a gentle curve. A very gentle curve. My head and feet remain worlds apart.

What in the world happened?! While I’m sure tight hip flexors play a role, I have a hunch the main problem is that my thoracic spine has become immobile.

Thoracic immobility in athletes is a topic I’ve been pondering for a few months, ever since I read two articles on the topic by Michael Boyle, founder of www.strengthcoach.com. The articles, located at T-Nation, are called “A Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training” and “The Essential 8 Mobility Drills.” (Disclaimer: The accompanying ads and graphics are kinda racy. Don’t click if you don’t want to see.)

Boyle, a high-profile performance expert and oft-quoted Experience Life source, explains that some joints need stability (like knees, shoulders and the lumbar spine), while others need mobility (think hips, ankles and the thoracic spine) to function optimally. And that if one of these joints isn’t as stable — or mobile — as it should be, it can send pain and injury up or down the chain to its neighboring joint.

In other words, an immobile thoracic spine may be to blame for pain in your upper or lower back. (Um, check and check.)

Fitness expert Bill Hartman has blogged on the topic, as well. He blames poor thoracic spine mobility for slouchy posture, impinged rotator cuffs and impaired scapular movement (Hartman recommended several scapular-correcting exercises in EL’s November 2007 article “Balance Your Blades”).

But there is hope, says Boyle, and the single best exercise you can do to increase thoracic mobility is a piece of cake. Since, as Boyle says, when it comes to thoracic mobility, “almost no one has enough, and it’s hard to get too much,” you can do it every day.

First, duct tape two tennis balls tightly together (I found two hardly battered tennis balls in the dog-toy bin — score!) and place them on the floor. You’re going to do a series of crunches on top of these bad boys, beginning with them positioned at the bottom of your rib cage and ending just above your shoulder blades.

Do five crunches at each level, and slide down about a half a roll of the ball after each set. Keep reaching forward with your arms at a 45-degree angle from the floor, and return your head to the floor after every crunch (that part is hard to remember to do). Stay away from the cervical and lumbar spine — you only want to mobilize the thoracic region of your spine.

For a video of this thoracic-mobility crunch in action, click here.

I’ve done two sets so far today, and I think I’m hooked. I can feel parts of my spine flexing in ways it probably hasn’t since my childhood gymnastics days, and while not super comfortable just yet, the exercise is satisfying in the same way foam rolling is — I sense I’m doing something good for my body for the longer term. I may never do another sugar bowl, but better posture and less back pain would be plenty sweet enough.