ROLE OF MID BACK AND LOWER BACK TO MAINTAIN GOOD POSTURE
ELBOWS BEHIND TORSO
When a weak thoracic region has been ingrained in the body, it is certain that the scapular region will come along for the ride of dysfunction. In this specific circumstance, the body has chosen an association of movement with the arm moving the elbow behind the torso. When there is poor kinetic function happening in the thoracic spine musculature, a disconnect between the lower and middle trapezius muscles will occur.
In a functional situation, these muscles would act to stabilize the scapulae, by bringing it to a retracted and posteriorly depressed position. Conversely, in a dysfunctional situation, the middle and lower trapezius muscles are completely dormant and therefore incapable of stabilizing the scapulae, since they are typically in too much of an elongated position to do so.
This in turn creates the compensatory patterns of internal rotation and anterior depression in the shoulder region. At this stage of dysfunction, the humerus will now make associations of movement without utilizing scapular function first. When the humerus does not work in conjunction with the scapulae, it is quite likely the shoulder will fall into an impinged state that could lead to pain and injury later on down the road.
LUMBAR EXTENSION
Lumbar extension is maybe the most common associative pattern found when a person does a wall retraction. This problem exists due to the fact that compensatory patterns of lumbar extension are present in most dysfunctional movements. In relation to the scapulae during retraction, anytime the scapula attempts to retract, during it primarily associates lumbar extension directly, as a result of having no ability to mobilize the thoracic spine in extension. When we attempt to implement functional core dynamics in conjunction with functional scapular dynamics, the lumbar will have the inclination of relapsing into its old factory settings of associative dysfunction.