Diaphragm Breathing
Everyone knows how to breathe right? After all, we’ve been doing it our whole lives! For the majority of us however, we’re not activating the ideal muscles or motor (movement) patterns to assist us in breathing.
There are a large number of potential causes for why we aren’t utilising our breathing muscles in the ideal way; perhaps it’s because society tells us from a young age to suck our stomach in and hold it tight, maybe it’s our posture at work and home, or maybe it’s all the stresses that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Whatever the cause is (and there are many potential causes), the end result remains the same; when we don’t use the ideal muscles and movement patterns for breathing, it can cause numerous issues including tight and sore muscles, fatigue, poor concentration, stress, digestive disturbances and many other problems.
Conversely, when we begin to use the correct muscles in the correct motor pattern, we start to notice some significant benefits. These include:
Ben Howard
Ben has a Master's Degree in Clinical Chiropractic and holds various qualifications in the health & fitness industry. He has been helping clients achieve their health & fitness goals for over 7-years now and has had great success utilising his synergistic approach of passive care, active care & nutritional advice.
There are a large number of potential causes for why we aren’t utilising our breathing muscles in the ideal way; perhaps it’s because society tells us from a young age to suck our stomach in and hold it tight, maybe it’s our posture at work and home, or maybe it’s all the stresses that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Whatever the cause is (and there are many potential causes), the end result remains the same; when we don’t use the ideal muscles and movement patterns for breathing, it can cause numerous issues including tight and sore muscles, fatigue, poor concentration, stress, digestive disturbances and many other problems.
Conversely, when we begin to use the correct muscles in the correct motor pattern, we start to notice some significant benefits. These include:
- Respiratory muscle activity changes that can result in a reduction in muscle tension and pain.
- Improvements in heart rate variability.
- Improvements in blood flow dynamics.
- Improved sympathetic-vagal balance.
- Improved core intrisic musculature activation.
- Improved cognition and concentration.
- Improved mood and affect.
- Reduced cortisol resulting in reduced stress.
As can be seen in the picture above, the anatomy of the diaphragm muscle is dome-shaped (almost like a parachute). While this muscle has a number of important functions, this article is specifically looking at the function involving breathing. When we breathe in (inspiration), the diaphragm contracts and flattens out; this allows the thoracic cavity (chest) to expand and therefore allows more room for the lungs to fill with air. When we breathe out (expiration) the diaphragm relaxes and resumes its domed-shape, helping to expel the air from the lungs.
The issue comes however, when our diaphragm doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to. For example, stand in front of a mirror, take a big deep breath and look at how your body moves. Did you notice your shoulders lift up? Or your chest raise? Maybe you even noticed the muscles on the front of your neck contracting; these muscles (and multiple others) that are contracting are called accessory muscles of respiration.
In small amounts, the movement patterns (activation or co-activation) of these accessory muscles can actually help to assist our diaphragm in helping us breathe. However, when these accessory muscles take over and have to do all the work for us to breathe, it deconditions our diaphragm, affects our diaphragm muscle firing rate and pattern, reduces the space for the lungs to expand and fill with air, and can result in hypertonicity (tightness) of these accessory muscles. When these become hypertonic they can also start to alter your posture (which can result in muscle imbalances elsewhere in your body), cause you back pain, neck pain, and even headaches.
References:
1. The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Dyspnea and Exercise Tolerance During Exercise in COPD Patients. Evangelodimou, Afrodite et al. CHEST, Volume 148, Issue 4, 704A
2. Lee, H. Y., Cheon, S. H., & Yong, M. S. (2017). Effect of diaphragm breathing exercise applied on the basis of overload principle. Journal of physical therapy science, 29(6), 1054–1056. doi:10.1589/jpts.29.1054
3. Ma, X., Yue, Z. Q., Gong, Z. Q., Zhang, H., Duan, N. Y., Shi, Y. T., … Li, Y. F. (2017). The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874
4. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Marc A. Russo, Danielle M. Santarelli, Dean O’Rourke. Breathe Dec 2017, 13 (4) 298-309; DOI: 10.1183/20734735.009817
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Ben Howard
Ben has a Master's Degree in Clinical Chiropractic and holds various qualifications in the health & fitness industry. He has been helping clients achieve their health & fitness goals for over 7-years now and has had great success utilising his synergistic approach of passive care, active care & nutritional advice.
