Are You Breathing Well?
I completely underestimated the importance of breathing until I took a course about 5 years ago which really brought my attention to it and have been obsessed ever since. It is so easy to assume we are breathing well, but are you? Having an assessment done on your breathing style lying down, during exercise, lifting or moving can be very helpful in understanding your injuries or limitations. Breathing is now always a part of my assessment in my clients since it can have such a huge affect on our whole body.
For example: if you have low back pain, and you are constantly utilizing a shallow breathing pattern you will not keep your ribcage, thoracic spine, and abdomen moving and expanding. If we don’t use this area it will continue to get tighter, this can include joints, muscles, or fascia. This goes back to the “use it or lose it mentality”. Deep breathing can be an easy way to self mobilize and “stretch” these areas of tightness which can take pressure off your low back.
Many of us have heard of the term “shallow breathing pattern”. This is where the person utilizes mostly their upper chest muscles for respiration and may take short inhales/exhales. The problem with this style is we are not utilizing our diaphragm which is the main respiratory muscle. The diaphragm lives in the abdomen and is located below the lungs. It is a large dome shaped muscle that contracts rhythmically. As we inhale the diaphragm contracts and flattens and the chest cavity enlarges. As the diaphragm contracts it creates a vacuum which pulls air into your lungs. As we exhale the diaphragm relaxes and returns to its dome like shape allowing air to be forced out of the lung.
For training purposes it can be really helpful to focus on a “deeper breathing pattern”. In this style we are utilizing our diaphragm and chest muscles for respiration. I like the 360 degree breathing exercise to work on this. The focus is on getting full expansion of the abdomen, lateral ribs, back body to increase respiration efficiency. We want equal movement of all of these areas including our upper chest.
To test this you can lie on your back and expand your hands on your abdomen so you can feel what is happening. As you inhale through your nose, you should feel your belly, lateral ribs, and back body all expanding and opening. Try to get to 5-6 sec inhale without forcing the air in, this should be slow and steady. As you exhale you should feel your fingers drawing back down and in also not forcing it or contracting the muscles but gentle passive lengthening.
Try to pay attention when you're working out, running, or lifting if you are losing a quality breathing pattern and finding yourself holding your breath or over utilizing your upper neck muscles. Keep practicing and see if you notice a difference in your endurance, posture, pain level, and stress/anxiety.
Come in for an assessment if you need more guidance and for an individualized program to work on improving your breathing! All this information is educational only and is not medical advice. Consult your medical team for specifics to your case.
Sources:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/19380.htm#:~:text=The%20diaphragm%2C%20located%20below%20the,and%20the%20chest%20cavity%20enlarges.