Let's Talk About Breathing! Global One Health - Lisa Marie Kocsis | Certified Pilates Instructor
Lisa Marie Kocsis | Certified Pilates Instructor
Let's Talk About Breathing!
While breathing is an
integral principle of the Pilates technique, it is also the most basic
component of life. Without breath, we can not live. An individual takes
approximately 23,000 breaths per day.
Aside from the
obvious, that it is essential for life, how we breathe directly affects our
posture and our ability to activate our core musculature. These aspects are two
of the primary reasons why people practice Pilates. While many clients have
expressed their desire to improve their core strength and postural alignment,
they are, probably unbeknownst to them, needing to address possible breathing
dysfunction. Proper posture enables the muscles that comprise our core to
engage much more effectively, which results in an improved quality of
breathing. In turn, when we think about how we're breathing, we can cue
ourselves to increase activation of our core, which can positively affect our
postural alignment. These three factors (breathing, core and posture) are
significantly interrelated, and therefore directly impact each other. Another
significant component of breath awareness is that breathing is important for
the health of the cells and cellular function. Cell turnover is a constant,
ongoing process. Cells need a new supply of oxygen so they can produce energy.
Many clients I have
worked with have stated that they want to increase their core strength. While I
do incorporate exercises in their program to strengthen this musculature, this
alone is not enough. If you train a client twice per week, those two hours are
less than 2% of their entire week! This is where education and cueing are
essential to give clients the information they need to enable them to apply
these concepts into their daily routine. It must be a conscious effort to
re-pattern muscle memory to learn how to activate the musculature correctly, to
support the skeletal structure in its ideal neutral posture. Here I'm going to
go into detail about the technique to maximize core activation with breathing.
I recommend practicing these "exercises" daily, as frequently as
possible, so that it becomes habitual.
There are different
ways to do so, and that will change based upon the exercise modality you are
doing at that time. One way of breathing will achieve a better result when
lifting, while another approach could help to reduce stress. In this feature,
I'm only going to address two specific styles of breathing…
-basic breathing
practice for daily life (diaphragmatic breathing)
-Pilates
breathing
Before I get into the
specific techniques, I want to address two points, as you need to have a basic
understanding of the following first.
1- what structure you
should use for inhalation
2- the anatomical
structure which comprises the core (inner unit)
It's ideal to inhale
through your nose, as it's designed to filter out pollutants, viruses and
bacteria, and to adjust the temperature of the air we breathe to our internal
body temperature. Proper breathing improves the quality and function of the
respiratory system. It's beneficial to take slower, deeper breaths. Exhalation
is your body's opportunity to expel toxins.
Knowing the basic
anatomical structure of the core will facilitate your ability to get sufficient
activation and function of this structure as a unit, in relation to other
systems in the body. The core is not a separate entity. The goal is to utilize
the core for control of your movement; for stability of the trunk when
necessary; to connect the shoulder and hip complexes to each other; to support
the spine in neutral posture (especially for prolonged periods of time). The
last component is especially important for those individuals sitting at a desk
for the majority of their day.
I teach my clients the
following imagery to help them have a visual of their core structure. Picture a
soup can; it has three basic components…the main structure of the can and the
two lids. The top lid represents the diaphragm. I mentioned earlier that the
diaphragm is the primary breathing muscle, but not coincidentally it's part of
your core structure. The bottom lid represents the pelvic floor, without which,
the contents would fall out. The can represents the transverse abdominus (TVA),
or abdominal wall. These three structures together form the crux of the basic core
unit. As a footnote, there are two additional muscles that comprise the
core...the multifidus and the internal obliques. I will not be addressing these
here.
When you belly
breathe, during inhalation, the abdominal wall will inflate while the diaphragm
contracts downward, enabling the lungs to expand. Upon exhalation, think of
contracting the pelvic floor* upwards while engaging the abdominal wall inwards
toward your center. *A side note regarding the pelvic floor. It is a small
muscle at the base of the core that connects your pubic bone to your tailbone
and your two sits bones. A simple way to think of contracting it is to stop the
urine flow before you finish; that's the sensation.
One drill you can do
is to practice the above technique 10-15 times, 2-3 sets daily, or randomly
throughout your day. Be sure to re-engage your pelvic floor and abdominal
wall with every exhale. Goal is to focus on conscious, purposeful activation of
the structures to train diaphragmatic breathing.
The second drill I
teach is more directly geared towards the Pilates breath, which is a posterior,
lateral breath. I will explain this below. In this variation, we do not want to
inflate the belly allowing the abdominal wall to release. When doing specific
movement in the Pilates technique, or exercises under load, you want to
maintain maximal TVA activation to provide support to the spine, trunk and hip
complex. With this approach you keep your abdominal wall engaged during the
inhalation and exhalation. While this restricts the diaphragm from fully
inflating, it enables the core musculature to stay activated to support other
structures in your movement. The inhalation will also feel more restricted, but
the primary goal is to learn how to maintain core engagement while continuously
breathing during an extended period of time - ideally at least 30 seconds, or
as long as you can initially. Count out loud to 30. This allows for a constant,
steady flow of air while maintaining core activation to ensure safe execution
of your movement. Do NOT hold your breath during this time or try to exhale for
30 seconds, as this defeats the purpose.
I referenced posterior
lateral breathing above. So it's clear, posterior refers to the back, lateral
to the side. With this style of breathing, you want to focus on allowing
expansion of your rib cage in those directions. Due to the fact that you're not
utilizing your diaphragm to its regular capacity, air must be inhaled using
your lungs differently. Try breathing using the following imagery. Think of
your lungs like balloons. While inhaling, think about inflating each balloon
three-dimensionally. The goal is to breathe into the posterior lateral body
(trunk) and maintain activation of your abdominal wall. Being able to channel
into this area while engaging the core will result in greater control of your
movement, and the ability to withstand a greater load (if that is your desired
goal). It will also enable you to have better endurance in an isometric
contraction of your core for exercise or other activities where required.
This will provide support to the spine and other joint complexes.
Here's a cue to
incorporate into your breathing practice. Place one hand on your belly and the
other on your sternum (upper chest bone). When you inhale, focus on breathing
more into your belly than your chest. The hand placement will allow you to
sense where your breath is predominantly coming from. One of the most common
habits I see is breathing into the neck and shoulders. This is, in part, due to
the fact that many people carry their stress in their upper trapezius muscles.
In many cases you'll see the entire shoulder girdle rise up with inhalation.
This can also result in added tension in the musculature of the neck. For this
reason, I recommend doing some of your breathing homework in front of a mirror.
This will enable you to actually see if your shoulders elevate and neck muscles
engage upon inhalation. Remember, diaphragmatic breathing is breathing
primarily into your belly, and it's part of your core!
In closing, I want to
express the importance and value of being mindful of proper core activation
with breathing. This will help increase your awareness of and strength in that
musculature. Make a conscious effort initially, and the structure will engage
more instinctively over time. Creating good habits is key! You will notice the
following…
- improved core strength
and posture
- increased support of
your spine, especially the low back area
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