Breath Training

On average, the human body takes a breath 12-15 times per minute. That’s about 22,000 breaths per day.
When we do intense exercises for an extended period of time, our body’s systems demand us to work harder to supply energy and eliminate waste products for working muscles. We can do that efficiently by utilizing the correct musculature to improve our oxygen consumption. The breathing mechanics can influence postural change and balance the efficiency of our systems.
It’s simple, the harder we work, the easier and more efficient we must breathe.

Having said that, we have to consider that the breathing muscles can get tired and need to be trained like any other muscle in our body.
To begin with, let’s understand the muscles we need to train.

1. The main muscle involved in breathing in (inhale-inspiration) is the DIAPHRAGM. It’s involved in stabilizing the torso and even though it works subconsciously, we can still improve its performance. Its ability to function is in relation to how it sits in the torso.
   It’s always 3-Dimensional, an expansion that encircles the lower ribs. In fact, there should be an actual spreading of the ribs which creates and intra-abdominal pressure sideways and downward when we breathe in.

The INTERCOSTAL muscles surrounding the rib cage and located in the spaces between adjacent ribs are also involved in the inhale facet. They prevent soft tissue from getting sucked between the ribs during the breathing. As we inhale we should be able to feel actual space through the sideways spreading of the ribs.

We also involve the SCALENE and STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID muscles in the neck and rib cage. They keep the rib cage from collapsing forward, they are primary stabilizes that hold the rib cage vertical and help the head stay in a better and healthier position.

The PECTORALS, LATISSIMUS DORSI and SERRATUS ANTERIOR muscles in the chest and side of the ribs. The main role of this muscles during the inhale facet is helping the diaphragm when breathing demands increase during exertion (effort part of breathing).

While both the muscles involved in inhaling (inspirations) and exhaling (expiration) can get fatigued and tired when working out, studies have shown respiratory-muscle-fatigue is more common during the inhale facet of breathing because we lack the ability to breath with the diaphragm laterally and end up breathing north and south- up and down chest and shoulder breathing.
On the other hand, better breathing can affect our total health without having to think about it in our daily conscious basis. The lateral torso mechanism needs to engage, so 50% of our breathing can improve and it will happen with proper alignment. An improved posture joint position and breathing mechanisms lead to a more functional life, where “you can do stuff that you could not do and want to keep doing”.
We need to give the lungs the freedom to expand and move. We need to change the thoracic angle and cervical spine position to more vertical in order to allow a more useful diaphragmatic function.

Let’s center out attention from training harder to training smarter simply by breathing better.
The breathing we are talking about is called East-West Breathing, in which the lower rib cage and lower back expand horizontally upon taking a breath. The diaphragm contracts and descends into the abdominal area of the body, allowing for a deeper breath that fills the lower lobes of your lungs with needed oxygen.
To quickly test this movement yourself, place your thumbs on the kidney area of your lower back and your index fingers on your side abdominal muscles, just below your lowest rib. As you breathe in, your fingers and thumbs should feel as if they are being pushed outward. If they are being drawn in (your chest is moving North-South), you are NOT stabilizing your torso due to postural compensations.

Here are five corrective exercises you might consider incorporating into your routine to improve breathing capacity. They were inspired by the principles of posture therapy, Egoscue Method and PTX Therapy.

1-EXERCISE: STATIC BACK AB CONTRACTIONS

Description:

• Lie on your back with legs up and over block, chair, or couch with knees bent at 90 degrees.
• Relax arms out to sides with palms up.
• Breathe in allowing your stomach to rise and breathe out allowing stomach to fall. This is diaphragmatic breathing. We are getting the diaphragm to push up when you breath in and then, when you let the air all the way out of your lungs, you are going to tighten your stomach muscles for 2 seconds, pushing the low back slightly into the floor and then release.
• Do NOT breathe through chest
• After release, there should be no air left and thus inhaling should follow.
• Repeat by filling back up with air and then back down.

NOTE: if it helps you, take a small weight or your cell phone or something and place it on top of your belly so you can feel and see the rising and lowering on your stomach with the proper breathing.

• 2 SETS OF 20 BREATHS.

2-EXERCISE: DRAPING.

Description:

• Drape your body over a block/ottoman/chair.
• Bring your hips all the way up to the edge of the block, allowing your torso to go over the other side.
• Drop the arms and shoulders towards the floor allowing the head to relax too.
• Keep arms relaxed to sides trailing behind you with palms up, letting shoulders fall forward and down.
• Let entire body relax and breathe deeply through diaphragm at stomach and waist level, not with chest.
• Focus on breathing and as you exhale, you will elongate the spinal muscles.
• Expand sides and low back outward as you breathe in, stretching the diaphragm completely.
• Relax neck muscles and keep head down.
• HOLD THE POSITION FOR 3 MINUTES.

3-EXERCISE: CATS AND DOGS

Description:

• Start on hands and knees with your shoulders directly above your wrist( and your hips directly above your knees (body should be square like a box), with feet trailing straight behind you.
• Keep your elbows locked straight.
• Arch back up like a cat while tucking hips/buttocks inward, and bring head down tucking chin to chest
• Then immediately go in opposite directions, bringing back down like a dog allowing shoulder blades to collapse together with head and chin coming up
• Repeat back and forth
• Do not shrug shoulders or bend elbows.
• Do not allow shoulder or hips to shift or rock forward or backward of hands and knees keep them vertically aligned. Everything must stay straight over the wrist and knees. You do not have to hold the position, just go through the movement.
• DO THE MOVEMENTS 10 TIMES.

4-EXERCISE: UPPER SPINAL FLOOR TWIST

Description:

• Lie on one side in curled up fetal position with arms straight out and hands/palms together.
• Form a 90-degree angle at the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
• Keeping knees together, open up your top arm toward floor on other side (as if you were a closed book and are opening). Relax the arm all the way down.
• Allow upper torso and head to rotate WITHOUT letting knees slide apart.
• Allow head to turn with arm (so you are looking for opposite direction of knees).
• Breathe thru the diaphragm (stomach) and feel the arm and shoulder falling closer to the floor as time elapses. Every time you exhale, the shoulder drops a little more
• Do NOT let top knee come off of bottom knee. The key is not allowing your hips to shift back, you want to keep the knees together so one hip stays on top of the other.
• To finish the exercise, bring arm back over to starting position FIRST, (close the book and then switch and go to the other side) and then roll over onto other side and repeat twist.
• HOLD THE POSTION FOR 1 MINUTE ON EACH SIDE

5-EXERCISE: SITTING CATS AND DOGS

Description:

• Sit on middle of chair (do not use back rest) with ankles directly under knees, feet parallel to each other, pointed straight ahead and knees hip width apart.
• Keep your shoulders down and back.
• Sit up really tall by Rolling your hips forward so that there’s a big arch in your low back and squeeze your shoulder blades together, looking up.
• Go to the opposite direction sitting back slump, slouching as far back as you can go relaxing, so that you round your hips and back and your shoulders round forward and your chin falls to your chest.
• Go back up and back down the cats and dog’s motion.
• Go back and forth for 10 REPETITIONS.

Always remember to listen to your body and consult with your healthcare professional or a posture specialist like myself if you are unsure about any exercise or if you have specific conditions that need to be considered. Incorporating this exercises regularly can improve your posture and overall physical performance!