Use your breath and a scarf to mobilize it!
Are you feeling very restricted in your upper back? If so, then “scarf breathing” is a great way to get some motion right here where your ribs come into your vertebra, the costovertebral joints.
These can get really stuck on people. And it’s important to get movement here, especially during cold and flu season. Not to be gross, but if you're trying to have a productive cough and cough things up, you need good mobility here.
The way this “exercise” works is you take a scarf or a piece of cloth and snug it up pretty tight up into your armpits. And then just give yourself a little bit of pressure. So I'm pulling here, creating a little resistance.
And then see if you can breathe outward, not upward. We have a tendency to want to breathe upward, which isn't productive. We want to breathe outward. And create some expansion outward expansion in the upper back.
What you're doing with this is creating some opening of these joints here, helping to create movement in the upper back and the rib cage, which can help bring a lot of good blood flow and circulation here and reduce upper back pain. And it will make your breathing a bit easier. Rib mobility is so important!
If you want to work with trainers that understand the nuance of movement and know how to modify your form so that you're getting the most efficient strength building possible, come check us out at Square One Fitness. We're super excited to work with you!