How to do the Thoracic Rotation
Step by step
- Start on hands and knees with hands under shoulders and knees under hips.
- Place one hand behind your head with that elbow pointing out to the side.
- Keep your hips still and facing the floor throughout.
- Rotate your upper back to open that elbow and your chest toward the ceiling, following the elbow with your eyes.
- Return slowly, finish your reps, then switch sides.
The thing people get wrong
The turn should come from your upper back, not your low back - keep your hips square so the rotation stays high.
Coaching cue
Breathe out as you open and take one more inch of turn at the top.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Reach the arm along the floor to the side instead of putting the hand behind your head.
- Harder: Sit your hips back toward your heels first, then rotate.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Side delts, Upper Back
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.