Rib Mobility and Movement Checks from Shirley Sahrmann

One of the big take aways I took from Shirley Sahrmanns lecture a few weeks ago in Boston was the importance of monitoring posture and movement.  For those of you that don't know, Shirley is one of the smartest manual therapist out there.  I own two of her textbooks, that I refer back to often.  Her first book, actually influence the way I treat and evaluate patients and athletes.

She must have stated 3-4 times over the course of her two hour talk about how she can't believe in today's society we don't have regular movement checks, but that we have twice yearly teeth check ups.  She extrapolated on what health benefits teeth bring, then extrapolated on what health benefits proper movement brings.  Hard to argue about some of that. 

Her lecture was titled "The Role of Hip Movement in Low Back Pain."  One of the key points I took away was measuring rib movement.  I really, really like this concept.  Like the quote says, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

She suggests that you breath all the way out, measure your rib circumference, then take a deep inhale.  Measure again.  Optimal rib movement is 3 inches.  I was at 1.5 inches then and 2 inches now. Lately,  I have had less midback tightness.  Circumstantially, I PR'd in inverted row reps recently.

 Improve joint function, improve movement quality, improve strength.