Chair thoracic extension

Type

Mobility

Equipment

No equipment

Area

Upper and mid back

Level

Gentle

Starting dose in Remedy

2 sets of 8

How to do it

1. Sit tall in a chair with a firm back that reaches about the bottom of your shoulder blades.
2. Put your hands behind your head and bring your elbows in a little.
3. Lean back over the top edge of the chair, letting your upper back extend.
4. Pause for a breath, then return to sitting tall.

Form cues

• Hands behind your head.
• Arch only the upper back over the chair, not the low back.

Common mistakes

• Pushing the ribs and belly forward, which turns it into a low back arch.
• Pulling on the head with the hands.

Easier and harder versions

• Remedy keeps this one steady and changes the work around it instead.

Why it helps a sore back

Long stretches of sitting and looking at a screen keep the upper back rounded. This moves it the other way, using the chair back as a pivot so the bend comes from the upper back and not the lower back.

How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called Thoracic Extension (Chair-Assisted). Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by sitting too long. A typical starting dose is 2 sets of 8, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.