♪ Bob and Brad, ♪
♪ the two most famous, ♪
♪ physical therapists ♪
♪ on the internet. ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck physical therapist.
- Today,i'm able to speak.
- Together we are the most famous physical therapists,
on the internet.
- Should we do it again?
- In our opinion ofcourse
(bob and brad speaking indistinctly)
- Today we gonna talk about the seven
upper back stretches for pain relief.
it's funny I was trying to say
that before i even finished our introduction.
So we're talking about the thoracic area where,
and we'll show you where that is in just a minute,
but right now,
- Ooh!
- if you're new to our channel, please take a sec or two
to subscribe to us we provide videos,
how to stay healthy,fit, pain-free and we upload every day.
Also go to Bobandbrad.com
and go to the giveaway section
because this week we're giving away a thermotex,
infrared heating pad.
- Yes
- We'll talk about it in just a minute.
Aah!you go to Facebook,
is a reprinted page, the contest,
Twitter, instagram, or tik tok,
if you want a 62nd version of our program.
- already, bob
- Thermotex,
foreign for red heating the big thing
just real quickly.
this is good for thoraic pain too, because..
- thoracic
- Yes.
did I say something wrong?
- i don't know.
- So normal heat just penetrates. Just surface.
- See the blue, blue mark on the tip
now look at the blue mark on this end
this is a depth of Thermotex infarent infrared heat
through the muscle, through the joints,
everything that makes you feel better.
- So sure you know, Brad put that...
up here.
- if you go through the skin
you can actually get to the joints of the thoracic area.
so it's a good thing to just put in your chair
i just leave it in my chair and i,
every night i turn it on and give myself a little treatment.
- Yeah,yeah
- it looks
- it's very comfortable, especially in the winter months,
- it's pricey,
but it's an investment,
- but this is a giveaway.
- So
- yeah, that's right.
- Opportunity.
- alright,so when we're talking about,
oh wait a minute, brad
we got to say Merry Christmas
- aaaaah
- to Ali and Eloise.
- and they're from the UK is 'em,correct?
- i'm guessing it's from
finley woods in the UK, London.
So I'm guessing,
but, you know it's funny when I hear earlier
i hope this isn't an insult to ali,
but i think of Stan and all of our hardy hardy,
Laurel and Hardy.
- that's right, yeah.
Well, i've heard people say that we're like that
but
- he used to always say aaah, aaah
he always go,
"i'm sorry, ali."
(bob and brad laughing)
- we better get out of the building.
- Yeah,okay let's go.
- merry Christmas,we appreciate you.
- Merry christmas and have a great new year.
- alright so when we're talking about thoracic area,
we're talking about T one,
which starts right below the neck here,
that big bup
- yap
- right below that is the thoracic area
it goes all the way down to the ribs
the ribs are the thoracic area,
- right
that's a good way to fill (speaking indistinctly)
- So between the shoulder blades.
that's the area we're gonna work on.
- that's the most common area for that tightness
and a trigger points,
- How about we take him over here,
- get them out the way we're done with them.
- So,first one is really easy one that you can all do.
You can wake up in the morning
and you can actually just get
up into a quadrupedal position,
which means you're on a,
on all fours here.
and you're going to basically do cat and Camel.
Now i know this is called different things
and I'm not sure
which one does a cat,this looks like a cat to me,
but this must be the camel.
- No i don't know
i think this is the cat,
but one way or another,
look at the range of motion throughout that thoracic spine,
arching it extension and then flection or rounding it
and it's good to make sure you breathe deep with this.
- yeah,
this is actually even good for the low back, Brad.
- yeah
- You know it's just starting to get
without putting a lot of pressure on it.
- You Can do this one on your bed if it's,
if you're not comfortable getting down on the floor,
you know as long as you're stable.
- Right you can do it
- thinking of the elderly.
- right.
alright next one,
brad ice needs to stay up here.
- Ooh yeah!
- now for some of you
who are kind of rounded out in this spot
here,
this is a good one for you.
Put your knees apart fairly wide
and you're gonna put your arms out like this.
and you're gonna try to flatten
that thoracic.
you wanna show that brad?
- you get back right there
So we're looking at,
it's got a little bit of an arch in there
and that's what we're looking for
this actually applies a little bit of traction
possibly here.
- Yeah there's a little traction,exactly.
it should feel good,
all of these should feel good if they don't don't do them.
- right. If you happen to have low back pain
and some sciatic of this may be want to avoid though
- Yeah, it might be
- If it happens you've both problems.
- don't bring your head up like this.
Keep your head down like this.
- Yeah, yes
- alright, moving on Brad.
number three,
you're gonna show this traction between the chairs.
- Oh,absolutely,i want to
- So this is a nice one you can do it throughout the day
you just need a couple of chairs
or you can actually,
you could probably do it on a park bench too.
On the back of a park branch.
- you might need two park benches,make distance
- Yeah why not?oh! That way
- Now,if you've got chairs, don't use ones
these are flimsy, So, but it works good in the studio,
but get some chairs that have some they're solid
you'll see why.
'Cause I'm gonna go here
and I'm just gonna take the weight off my legs
and relax muscles throughout my trunk.
and that's gonna allow some traction
and let that
thoracic spine get stretched.
- now you can also do it on the pan of the chair.
they call it the pan,don't they?
- oh yeah, the seat pan
- So this is, you can even use any chair though.
'Cause it's gonna be stable enough,
- Oh I'll show you from this side.
So I'm gonna lift up
and now my knees are off the ground.
and then I'm gonna relax my trunk around my belly,
those core muscles
and get that little bit of a traction through that back
and stretch.
- will you move through that like a young kid,
will you?
_ well bob
you know, I've been exercising.
- next one you can actually do with a chair too.
I'm gonna do it on here because I'm so tall
- Oooh!
- for most people, will a chair high enough?
but what you can do is take your elbows.
I'm gonna put my hands behind my neck like this,
and I'm going to stretch.
- this is a great one
for the pain between the shoulder blades
and yeah,get in there.
it's nice to have a padded,
something padded like
- that does feel it better.
- Now
would you look up at the same time to get a little more?
- Nope,i'll Keep your head down.
- Okay.
- and let's stretch that mid back.
- You couldn't walk to the wall!
- Yap,works on the wall too
- And do this too and then you work up like that
Oh and stretch.
- get your feet a little wider.
So you get a good base for balance.
- Oh, this is kind of an ice box.
- yeah, it does it.
- i gotta be honest,i don't do this one for a night.
I do,
- I don''t neither
i've got another option.
- We're gonna show the other option.
Oh,that's great.
- Aah! Want you to show the ball on the chair, Brad.
- Ooh yeah!
- and this was invented by our camera man today,mike?
- Oh that's great.
- he came up with this.
- So you don't just put the ball in the chair
- you have to sit in the chair
and then put the ball right in that thoracic spine
and, you kmow if the ball's a little flat,
it actually works a little bit better. Okay.
- (indistinct)to mike
it made him take that ball back.
- Well, not that flat.
It's an inside job between us and mike anyways.
So I'm going to stretch back like this
and I'm going to move the ball up or down
wherever it needs it.
you may wanna do it in various places.
- That's the beauty of the ball.
that's what made it such a good idea, Mike,
is that you can actually hit the spots that I,
I can't tell you how many people does this help.
Mike you've helped the whole world.
- and it's good for the neck too
I'm gonna give a little extension throughout the neck.
this, I think, you know, if you work at the computer lab,
you should just have a ball.
- i do. I think, I think that's absolutely the case.
you should have your back stretching computer ball.
- we'll show you some options to do without it.
next one,
the thoracic area,
a lot of rotation occurs when you're turning.
A lot of it comes from your thoracic area,
- right
- less from your low back.
so for some of you,
what you'll find, if you're having pain up there,
it's because you're (indistinct),
it's a turning problem.
- sure.
- one of the rotations so you had one direction,
let's say today,
i had going to the right.
i'm not gonna work that direction
I'm gonna actually
i'm put my fist to my hand,
I'm gonna work,
going to the left for a while.
If that feels okay,
I'm actually give it a little over pressure
like this.
so i'm pushing with this one
and give it a little over pressure
- he's going like this.
he's going like he's gonna elbow
- yeah
- somebody in the nose,
but don't do that.
- after you do that,
then you check the by the way,
how does that feel now?
So a lot of times, believe it or not,
you can actually get a little more motion this way.
- yep
- more motion, often equates to less pain.
So,Brad's gonna show it with the stick too you can actually
- So you use cane we got
the boys take care of whatever you have handy
grab it like this.
and then you gotta be careful,for those around you
- Yeah,don't hit somebody,
don't hit a base,
- you know, and if it feels better with your arms out,
that might actually be the way to do it.
I'm gonna do a,some,
- you can see how he can really get some rotation.
- Oh yeah,
and actually,
i think I am a little more flexible to the right.
- Oh you got good rotation brad.
- Well, Bob,
i've been practicing once again.
- yeah, you are actually right
you're much better.
- Yeah,yeah It's definitely, you know,
- having you looking around in the car,you know
- Well, yeah,
because I always look over my right shoulder when I'm
backing up the trailer and the boat.
- next one,
all of us can do
in the chair except for rad.
'Cause he's have trouble with his shoulders
(rad laughing)
So, you know,
we always talk about the W's
and which are good
you can do those squeezing the shoulder blades together.
you work in that thoracic area when you do them,
do you want to turn around, just to show,
- Oh sure
- see how the shoulder blades are commentary?
you hit it right in that thoracic area.
but I like this better brad
i like doing W's to wise
- oooh
- and I'm the whole time pushing back.
- Yep.
- while I'm doing this,
i'm squeezing my shoulder blades the whole time. And I just,
i've been doing this on breaks
and now on the computer
and it just really makes live, posture.
- You could go up against a wall
- Oh yeah I'll do it short y's and ....
- I'll do with this my left shoulder and the feet center
I'm working on it though,it's getting better,
but I'm not gonna do it
- while you're over there brad,
why don't you show the bonus here?
that was number seven
We'll go and show the bonus.
- so now we're just gonna do the hanging
(yep)
and this is great for the posture.
My butts up against the wall.
My back shoulders are back. Your head is bad.
- you can use a pull-up bar
you can use hanging handles,
whatever you want to use, but it puts some tracks on that.
Now you can see
he's actually got his feet on the ground yet.
- Yeah,i'm, I'm not a hundred percent hanging.
i got about 50 to 75% and that feels good.
and that's all I'm gonna do right now.
- Yeah,you know,
if you've got a tree outside
with the branches strong enough, you know,
that's a dine cruise even.
- yep
- that's what he showed our pipe in the barn
yeah,here a number of options,
but be creative, but be safe.
you have to have something,
obviously that's going to be safe to hold your weight.
- alright, Brad, that brings us to an end by the way,
Brad and I can fix just about anything
- except for?
- a broken heart.
- Great
- you wanna, I wanna show you something,
watch us, five foot long
but if you look at it this way,
it's only one inch, you know, I can't see it.
it's kind of a cool thing, isn't it?
- What is wrong with you?
Well,i was just thinking about that.
- thanks for watching.