Spiral line

Thoracic rotation

Easy2 minNothing

Arms wide, hips still, rotate the ribcage and let the head follow. Rotation is the first range a desk life loses, and the spiral line that wraps your trunk is how walking stores its energy.

The dose

6 rotations per side, moving with the breath

How to do it

01Stand or sit tall with arms out wide at shoulder height.
02Keep the hips facing forward; they are the anchor the spiral winds against.
03Exhale and rotate the ribcage to one side, letting the head follow the arms.
04Inhale back through center and rotate the other way, six slow rounds per side.

Mistakes that waste your reps

Letting the hips swivel along, which steals the rotation from the spine.
Leading with the neck; the ribcage turns first, the head just comes along.
Holding the breath; the exhale is what lets the trunk wind further.

Where this comes from

evidence · emergingWilke 2016 · partial evidencesee the receipt →

Discomfort that eases as you move is normal; pain that sharpens is a stop sign. If this area is injured or persistently painful, a clinician outranks this page.

Written by Kyle Jenkin · updated August 31, 2026 · how we grade evidence

Pairs well with

Lateral line

Overhead side bend

Reach one arm overhead and bend away from it, keeping both feet heavy. You are opening the long seam that runs from ankle to armpit, one of the most under-stretched lines in a chair-shaped life.

→ 3 slow bends per side, exhale into each

Easy2 minevidence · emergingWilke 2016 · myofascial chains

Superficial back line

Hip hinge fold

Soft knees, long spine, fold from the hips and let the arms hang. This loads the best-evidenced fascial chain in the body, one continuous sheet from sole to scalp.

→ 5 slow folds, 3 breaths at the bottom

Easy2 minevidence · strongWilke 2016 · back line verified

One move is a start. A thread is better.

Find your thread →All fascia lines moves

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