A common issue our doctors see in patients is that most people don’t know how to breathe correctly. you may be asking, “Breathing happens without thinking about it, how can I be doing it wrong?” Many of our patients come in with issues such as headaches, constant trap tightness, knots, upper back pain, lower back pain, shoulder pain, tight hips, etc., What they don’t realize is that any of these could be related to incorrect breathing.
How To Breathe Correctly – Diaphragmatic Breathing
- Lie on your back on a flat surface with your knees bent. You can use a pillow under your head and your knees for support if needed.
- Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly, just below your rib cage.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower belly. The hand on your chest should remain still, while the one on your belly should rise.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles and let them fall inward as you exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your belly should move down to its original position.
![Diaphragmatic breathing exercise example for hand positioning](https://dynamicsportstherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/diaphragmatic-breath-1.png)
How Can I Tell If I Have A Faulty Breathing Pattern?
At rest:
- Total Body Tension
- Muscle Tension
- Muscle Spasms
- Overuse and entrapment of nerves and blood vessels
- Burning in the back, neck, shoulders, or arms
During exercise:
- Breathlessness
- Peripheral muscle aching, weakness, or loss of power
- Quick to fatigue
How Faulty Breathing Patterns Affect The Body
Decreased diaphragmatic breathing and core stabilization leads to:
- Recruitment of upper chest and neck musculature
- Overbreathing, or breathing disproportionately to the activity being done
- Overuse of accessory breathing muscles
- Intra-abdominal pressure alters affected core stabilization
- Lower rib movement decreases
- Pelvic floor weakens
- Abdominal and back muscle imbalance
- Spine rigidity
- Muscle pain and fatigue
- Headaches
- Neck, shoulder, and lower back pain
- Exercise or athletic performance impaired
- Tense Jaw
What Is Diaphragmatic Breathing?
Regarding movement patterns, the breath is essential for consistent, quality movement. There are two main types of breathing – Apical (upper chest breathing) and diaphragmatic (abdominal breathing). Upper chest breathing is the most common pattern we see and I think that can be attributed to many aspects of human culture. In society, “sucking in” and having a tight belly instead of breathing through your abdomen is simply the norm. The funny part is that not breathing through your abdomen actually does the opposite for strengthening your core muscles and ability to have the “snatched waistline” people long for.
By not using the primary muscles of respiration, we are actually causing ourselves to have a weaker core, less control of our abdominal musculature, decreased ability to stabilize the spine and pelvis, and less effective exercises because we are fatiguing even faster in our extremities because those parts of the body have to do more work than necessary. To debunk the myth that sucking in and doing 1,000 sit-ups will get you a 6-pack, we must learn to utilize the proper muscles for breathing and learn to brace the core correctly.
This week’s post is authored by Dr. Bailee Mims.