Advanced
Ribcage Movement
Advanced Level
Full mastery — nuance, personal expression, and artistry
Any isolated movement of the ribcage — slides, circles, pops, and undulations — independent from the hips and shoulders.
Tips
- •Sit in a chair and practice ribcage slides — the chair stabilizes your hips, making it easier to isolate the ribcage
- •Put a broomstick across your shoulders and hold the ends — if the stick tilts during ribcage movement, your shoulders are involved
- •Practice 5 minutes daily for 3 weeks — ribcage isolation shows dramatic improvement with consistent short practice
Common mistakes
- •Moving the shoulders instead of the ribcage — the shoulders should stay relatively level and still
- •Only moving forward and back, ignoring lateral movement — the ribcage has full 360-degree range
- •Losing core engagement — ribcage movement requires core control, not core collapse
- •Holding the breath — ribcage movement and breathing happen simultaneously with practice
Practice drill
Sit in a chair, feet flat, hands on knees. Slide ribcage right, return center. Slide left, return center. Slide forward, return center. Slide back, return center. Now make it a circle: right, forward, left, back. 8 circles clockwise, 8 counterclockwise. Stand up and repeat. Now add basic step and repeat. Each stage gets harder but builds on the same movement. Five minutes.