Thoracic Spinal Rotation and the Hundreds of Little Joints

Ok. Maybe it isn't hundreds of little joints connecting the ribs to the thoracic spine, but it is more than 50 moveable joints between your ribs and your sternum at the front and your ribs and your spine at the back. That is an amazing amount of bendability in a part of the body that many people think of as rigid. It is designed to contort, deform, twist, expand and contract and generally act like an accordion. Those joints are there so that you can rotate your thoracic spine and give your lumbar a break. And breathe. And sidebend. And roll.