Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Thoracic mobility exercise

Just thought I would copy this video here showing a thoracic mobilization exercise I have been doing for about 3 years now (thats not me in the vid, lol). I started doing it because I was looking for ways to improve my weightlifting workouts. It is not very comfortable at first, but the increased range of motion I feel for a couple of hours or more after I do it is well worth the discomfort. It only cost about $1 to make one of the objects, 2 tennis balls and some athletic tape or duct tape. I did not know I had AS when I started doing these, just thought I had horrible posture and problems like muscle spasms. When I went to my rheum, he was surprised at how much range of motion I had relative to my pain levels. I attribute that to this and a few other exercises.

So anyway, hope this is helpful for some people here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDWNVp2Ht0Y

Ohhh-Errrr - Can't even lie flat on the floor - go like a stuck whale in the mud!

Looks to be an *excellent exercise and great for those who have just started the stooping posture, but for me...ho-hum chum. Can't get my shoulders back now, hurts and then can't breath. Definitely need HELP in the physio dept, but, NO decent physio person around here. Sigh. (Inept and badly trained is the best on offer...need to relocate to an area with facilities - let alone 'better' facilities .)

very good.

I love the two tennis balls in a long sock, knotted at the end, method. I put them behind my thoracic spine while leaning against the wall. Feet are pretty close to the wall, 6" or so, and then roll up and down on the tennis balls while pressing my shoulders into the wall.

This Dr gives a bit more info about the floor exercise, and of course there is always the lying face down on a hard surface for 20 minutes per day.

That's my favorite because a nap is usually included.

what else ya got for us?

Excellent... I've been working on just laying flat. I'll add these stretching exercises. My interest in this is rode bike riding. The "stoop over" makes it painful to ride my rode bike in the typical rode bike position. Oh I want to do that so bad!

Thanks for the post! This may bother me due to the rib AS.

Good videos ErikaK. Wish we had someone like that near to where I live. Unfortunately, there is no one - France is useless in this respect: they don't have the training and trained personnel. Sigh.

Here's another one I like, some days I'm too stiff to do much good with it, but on days I am able to get loosened up a little, it is great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06G7VVgjg_Q&feature=related

Also, on the tennis ball exercise, you can try doing the same thing with a rolled up towel if it bothers your ribs. I prefer the tennis balls because it seems to allow the spine to move more, but when my ribs are flared up, I use a rolled up towel. With a towel, you can also roll it up small or large depending on how much motion you are able to get.