Effects of Adding Thoracic Spine Exercises to Routine Soccer Training on Spinal Alignment and Mobility in Professional Male Soccer Players: a Randomized Controlled Study

Soccer is a dynamic and multifaceted sport that involves complex movement patterns, including high-speed running, sudden stops and changes of direction, jumping, collisions, and trunk rotation. The spine serves not only as a central component of the skeletal system but also as a dynamic structure essential for trunk stability, postural control, balance, and efficient force transmission. In athletes, maintaining coordination between body segments, ensuring efficient functioning of the kinetic chain, and sustaining high-level motor control all require optimal spinal function. In high-contact and high-intensity sports such as soccer, the spine is exposed to substantial repetitive loads due to its anatomical structure, which can result in microstructural stress accumulation, postural deviations, and segmental dysfunctions over time, ultimately reducing performance and increasing the risk of injury.

A review of the current literature shows that interventions for trunk control and spinal health in soccer players predominantly focus on the core and lumbar regions, while exercises targeting the thoracic region are not systematically addressed.

Research on spinal exercise interventions and their effects on spinal structure, segmental ROM, and functional mobility has been expanding and gaining clinical relevance. Exercise approaches specifically targeting the thoracic region have been shown to support spinal segmental integrity and improve mobility in both the sagittal and frontal planes.

In recent years, thoracic region-specific exercise approaches have been shown to improve postural control as well as upper and lower extremity performance. However, there are limited studies in the current literature directly examining the effects of thoracic exercises on spinal alignment and mobility.

The present study aimed to examine and compare the effects of a 6-week thoracic spine exercise program on spinal alignment and mobility in professional male soccer players. We hypothesized that 6 weeks of thoracic spine exercises would improve spinal alignment and mobility and that significant differences would be observed between the exercise and control groups in this population.