Breathe, Just Breathe
How often do you think about your breathing? Well, chances are you just suddenly became aware of it and perhaps even a yawn is coming soon. Were you taking slow deep breaths or were you merely sipping the air with shallow inhalation? Chances are the answer is shallow breathing. If I had to make another guess, you’re probably reading this sitting down with your torso and neck flexed forward looking down at your device. Was I right again? If so, this posture may be contributing to your current breathing pattern. But fear not, I’m not here to judge your breathing, just offer some tips for improvement. As someone who had their adenoids surgically removed as a child to help combat excessive snoring and sleep apnea, this is a subject near & dear to me. To this day, I still snore sometimes (my partner loves it) and often catch myself reverting to swallow breathing.
Luckily for me (us), we can work to change our default breathing patterns with deliberate practice. Similarly to how your body adapts to exercise, we can improve the function of your diaphragm after exposing it to enough repetitions, it is a muscle after all. To start the improvement process, sit comfortably with a tall posture and neutral spine. Place one hand on your chest, and one hand on your naval. Take a long slow deep breath, though your nose, and notice what happens to your hands. Did the hand on your chest rise as your lungs inflated, or did the hand on your navel rise? If the hand on your navel rose, you’re off to a good start. Tension in the neck and shoulders during inhalation is an indicator of poor breathing mechanics, something I am often guilty of myself. In addition to this less-than-ideal breathing mechanism, I must admit that for a long time I would self-identify as a “mouth breather.” I am happy to report that I’m doing better at keeping my mouth shut these days (please hold your applause).
Despite seeing improvements over time, bear in mind that learning how to breathe better is like any other physical pursuit, it is a practice. If you’re familiar with any form of martial arts, you’re probably already familiar with this concept and recognize just how important it is to help facilitate high-quality movement. Anyway, with any practice comes ebbs and flows of discipline. This means good days and bad days when we revert to old, comfortable habits. Now, to attempt to convince you that this is important, I want to share my inspiration for this article. I’m currently reading “Movement” by Gray Cook. If you’re unfamiliar with Gray, he is a brilliant Physical Therapist who challenged the status quo when it comes to human movement. Gray is responsible for screening tools, assessment strategies and corrective exercises that we use every day here at Marino’s Fitness. I wanted to read this book because every year I like to challenge my assumptions, biases and habits when it comes to my own workouts. Am I performing quality movements that serve me well, or am I reverting to something that is familiar and comfortable?
Well, as I begin to critique my own movement patterns, it turns out that my fundamentals need work, especially my breathing during exercise. Gray commonly says that if you can’t breathe fully and deeply during movement, your movement is “inauthentic.” Inauthenticity during movement means that you do not own the movement, you’re simply surviving the movement. I’ve determined that I want to do more than just survive, I want to thrive with as many movement patterns as possible, and I hope you do too. I recently noticed that I employ poor breathing mechanics during my deep squat practice. As my range of motion increases, I find myself holding my breath; this is my body’s attempt to find stability in a position it is not yet fully comfortable in. So, I’m now trying to focus on my breathing during this pattern, and the intent makes all the difference in the outcome. I challenge you to do the same during your own workouts. Try to focus on what’s happening internally as you move your body. To compliment this philosophy, I would prefer you make improvements with your breathing before you make improvements with the intensity of your exercises. So, starting today, lets breathe better so we can move better and let’s move better so we can live better.