Sue Falsone: Cervical Thoracic Junction Yoga Mobility Drill

Looking for a drill to regain mobility in the shoulder and cervical thoracic junction? Sue Falsone goes back to yoga for the perfect movements.

Those who know me know I am in yoga mode right now and I love giving my athletes different types of yoga movements in order to help improve their mobility.

What I’m going to have the ladies demonstrate is an upward and downward facing dog that’s really going to help build some strength and get some mobility in that upper back.

Ladies, if you will, go ahead and find a plank position for me. Before you lower, I’m going to have you make sure you tighten up that belly. Make sure you’re in a nice, neutral spine.

On an exhale, you’re going to go ahead and lower yourself toward the ground, just hovering. On an inhale, I want you to bring your chest forward.

The head is going to stay straight ahead. I want their eyes straight ahead. They’re pushing down into the ground. The belly is not sagging. We’re not having any swayback.

They’ll then go ahead and push themselves right into a downward facing dog and really kind of stretch out that mid-back. What I’m looking for in this position is a lot of nice thoracic extension, really having them stretch out the upper back area.

Go ahead and repeat that one more time, ladies. On an exhale, lower. On an inhale, go ahead and bring that chest through.

They really have to depress the scapula here, so we’re reciprocally inhibiting this upper trapezius.

The head, again, is straight forward. A nice neutral spine there, getting some extension in that mid-back, and pressing back to a downward facing dog, trying to get some end-range mobility in that shoulder.

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If you are interested in Sue’s work with athletes, you can learn more in her book, Bridging the Gap from Rehab to Performance.