{"id":1531,"date":"2015-10-27T16:04:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T16:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sbrsport.co.za\/?p=1531"},"modified":"2015-10-27T16:04:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T16:04:07","slug":"a-look-at-your-ribs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbrsport.co.za\/?p=1531","title":{"rendered":"A Look at your Ribs."},"content":{"rendered":"

The next two blogs are going to be dedicated to the process of breathing. So, let\u2019s kick off and look at your ribs.\u00a0I want to keep this blog relatively simple, while bringing about an appreciation for your ribs.<\/p>\n

The basics. <\/em><\/p>\n

You have twelve ribs on either side of your chest. They surround your lungs, heart and a few organs.\u00a0 Your thorax is one massive chemistry center that pulls gas in and pushes it out. Your lungs grab hold of oxygen, critical to life, and push out carbon dioxide. The oxygen is attached to your red blood cells. Their job is to carry the oxygen through your body via a rather brilliant pump, otherwise known as your heart. Your factory needs protection, hence your ribs.
\n\"ribcage-and-spine\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Four different sections.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your ribs are broken up into four different sections. We are going to move upward in our examination of these ribs.<\/p>\n

1. Your lowest three ribs \u2013 also known as the pelvic ribs.<\/em><\/p>\n

These ribs are known as your floating ribs. They are attached to your spine at the back but then float freely up front. This configuration allows them a fair amount of movement. They play a vital role, in that they are linked to your hips via muscles such as your quadratus lumborum, abdominal obliques etc.<\/p>\n

Unusual tightness in the muscles that are linked to these ribs will bring imbalance to the body. A dropped shoulder is often an indicator that something has tightened up too much between your hips and base of the thorax.<\/p>\n

These three ribs protect your kidneys and adrenal glands.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The next four ribs \u2013 also known as the abdominal ribs.<\/em><\/em>These ribs are connected at the front of your body to the cartilage at the base of your sternum. They move less than your floating ribs but are allowed more movement than the ribs situated above them. If you put your hands on your sides and breathe in deeply you will feel these ribs move outward. Move your hands just a bit higher and to the next set of ribs and you will realize that they do not move much\u00a0at all.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These ribs protect your spleen on the left, stomach in the middle and liver on the right.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The next three ribs.<\/em>
      \nRibs 3-5 are far more stable and attach directly to the sternum. They protect the all important heart. Your pectoral minor muscles are attached to these and so their stability helps with shoulder movement.<\/li>\n
    2. The last two\/ top two ribs.<\/em>
      \nThese ribs are smaller and the most stable of all the ribs. The so called \u2018neck ribs\u2019 are attached to the upper vertebrae of the neck via the scalene muscles. Their relation with the neck is an important one, \u00a0they have to stabilize the heavy head on top of the rather small neck.
      \n– they can help with breathing. (There will a bit more about this in the next blog)
      \n– the muscles above these two ribs can become tight during times of stress.The ribs at the back are attached to the spine. We will examine this in another blog.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Movement and your ribs.<\/em><\/p>\n

      Ribs are often depicted as being solid.
      \n      \"ribs<\/a>
      \nHowever there is a lot more to them than that.<\/p>\n

      Let\u2019s look at a few movement considerations.<\/em><\/p>\n