Now what exactly can I say about breathing that you don’t already know? Well, I know most people don’t do it properly. Yes I know it’s as simple as inhaling and exhaling, but there is much more to it. When we breathe, there are many other components (like accessory respiratory muscles) that are involved, and when these units aren’t at their most optimal function, your breathing may become affected, thus inhibiting your true maximum oxygen input.
During inspiration, you have your diaphragm, external intercostals (superficial muscles in between the ribs), and scalenes (deep in the front/side of the neck) involved. Most people would find the diaphragm and external intercostals to be an obvious grouping, but we tend to forget the fluid movement of the rib cage during respiration. When we inhale, the rib cage moves forward and lifts up (as the lungs inflate) and when we exhale, the cage drops down and flattens a bit as the lungs deflate. So during inhalation, we have our scalene muscles helping lift the cage as they attach to the first and second ribs.
Now here comes the accessory muscles, and list is extensive but don’t let it scare you!
The inspiratory muscles are;
Sternocleidomastoid – those big muscles at the front of the neck
Pectoralis major & minor – deep and superficial pecs at the front of your chest
Serratus anterior – against rib cage under armpits
Latissimus dorsi – lats, back of your trunk
Serratus posterior superior – between/top of shoulder blades against ribs
The expiratory muscles are;
Internal intercostals – deep muscles between the ribs
External & internal obliques – sides of your torso
Rectus abdominis – muscles when you see a ‘6-pack’
Transverse abdominis – across the abdomen
Serratus posterior inferior – bottom of thoracic spine against the last four ribs
To truly summarize these guys and depending on their location on your body, these muscles contribute to lifting/lowering and expanding/compressing the rib cage while breathing. And you thought it was more simple than that! Remember when I said if these units aren’t at their most optimal function, your breathing may become affected? I’ll explain further.
There are various types of breathing, but for simplicity, we’ll talk about the 3 most common.
Apical – majority of movement is the top of the chest, found in people with asthma and chronic bronchitis
Costal – majority of movement is the sides of the thorax
Abdominal – majority of movement is in the abdomen
Most people breathe apically subconsciously as it’s ‘easier’, however, this can be contributed by overactive or restrictive neck and upper chest muscles that directly impacts the movement of your rib cage. If these muscles are tight, your rib cage can always be elevated to a degree and it may cause further problems since there would be a constant strain on these muscles. Poor posture at a desk job could be one factor to look into if you find you’re an apical breather. Even sitting too long can prevent true expansion in your abdomen and not allow room for your diaphragm to be engaged. With costal breathing, your intercostal muscles are the prime movers, and this type is more associated with physical exertion with trying to maximize and eliminate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in a short period of time. The best way to tell how you breathe, is by watching yourself in front of a mirror (don’t make it weird).
Ideally, you would want to incorporate your diaphragm as that’s what it’s designed to do! We call this Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing or DDB for short. With this technique, your goal is to stretch and fill your lungs at their most potential, which in turn provides the body with sufficient oxygen, expels carbon dioxide adequately, and decrease stress levels.
First, you would want to feel to understand the different ‘regions’ of your lungs, as well as the coinciding muscles. Take a breath in and focus on isolating it to the top of your lungs by lifting your sternum (breastbone) towards the ceiling. On the next breath, isolate it to the middle of your lungs by expanding the sides of your rib cage. For this next breath, inhale and focus on moving that oxygen to the base of your lungs, and expand your abdomen outwards. Close your eyes if you need to, and listen to your body, listen to your breath, and visualize your lungs during this process. Check out the source below to see an MRI of breathing (it’s super cool).
For your final breath, you want to incorporate all three regions.
So inhale into your abdomen, fill the sides of your ribs, then into the top of your chest all in one go. Repeat this for a minute to start, as it can be overwhelming to feel the natural maximum potential of oxygen in your body.
It takes practice so don’t worry if you feel like you’re not getting it! This is a form of body-awareness, so be patient with yourself, and take a deep breath.
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