Breath Training Along the Full Movement Spectrum

Written By Katherine Staiger

Part I

Part I: The Structure

We hear a lot about Breathing these days. Using it to regulate your Nervous System is having a moment. Postural Restoration begins with the Intrinsic Core Muscles (breathing muscles). Breathing is also a big topic in Pelvic Floor Health. Do we fully understand how to use it? Moreover, do we fully understand why we would begin with breathing as a mechanism for training strength in the many varying scenarios it is warranted?

Let’s dive in, without getting too complicated!

  • Part I: The Structure

  • Part II: Breathing for Nervous System Regulation

  • Part III: Breathing for Mobility

  • Part IV: Breathing for Core Stability + Strength

The Structure: Breathing Muscles / Organs / Skeletal Components

Let’s first understand the entire process/structures of ‘the system’.

Breathing 

  • The process of inhaling and exhaling air

  • Involves the contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm and rib muscles

  • The two phases of breathing are inspiration (inhaling) and expiration (exhaling)

Respiration 

  • The chemical process that exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide in cells

  • Releases energy in cells

  • Requires oxygen to break down food and produce energy

  • Produces carbon dioxide as a waste product

The respiratory system 

  • The system of organs that allows the body to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide

  • Includes the lungs, trachea, bronchus, bronchiole, diaphragm, intercostal muscles, and ribs

The entire respiratory system uses breathing as a mode to move the oxygen/CO2, while respiration is a metabolic process. These 2 actions are interdependent.

Importance of Breathing Structures:

How well we pull air in + expel CO2 has to do with the quality of your inhale + exhale. This is why, when we begin the program in Phase 1, we are establishing connection with how well we inhale + exhale. It’s important to get a sense of how the intrinsic core is working to get a handle on how you maintain Intra-abdominal Pressure, which is not only important to managing your oxygen + CO2 levels, but how well those structures support the spine (‘the core'“) + for a lot of us, pelvic floor functioning. Having a “strong core” begins with how well you inhale + exhale.

When we pause to consider the structures of Breath, we have to consider their anatomical purpose, their strength + their mobility. Let’s analyze the big ones:

The Muscles:

diaphragm, intercostal muscles (those in between the ribs), multifidus, pelvic floor muscles, transverse abdominus, internal obliques

How strong these muscles are will affect your ability to inhale, exhale + stabilize your spine/pelvis. Further, if there is a weak link in the chain of connections, there will be compensation somewhere. This typically happens as postural dysfunction, pressure mismanagement (resulting in chronic pain, usually in the chest or lumbar spine) or pelvic floor dysfunction.

The Lungs

The primary function of the lungs is to exchange gases between the body and the environment. 

  • During inhalation, air enters the lungs, and oxygen from the air passes into the capillaries. 

  • Carbon dioxide, a waste product produced by the body, moves from the capillaries into the alveoli and is exhaled. 

  • This process is known as gas exchange and is essential for providing the body with oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. 

IF there is not a proper inhale + exhale, aided by the muscles of the system, there might be a host of downstream issues like an imbalance of oxygen + CO2 in the body or imbalanced breathing (too much shallow/costal breathing or too much diaphragmatic/deep breathing).

The Skeletal Components

The ribcage is the main structure here. Though let’s not forget what those ribs are attached to: the spine, the shoulder joint and its best friend in the neighborhood — the pelvis.

Over time, we tend to see immobilization of the ribcage. This can be from a number of habits, but the biggest one is the lack of proper posturing, then breathing. And this is often as a result of muscle atrophy (see above). The bottom line is: when we restore balanced breathing in our respiratory system, we restore our core. Though in order to do this, we must first know:

  • how well we inhale + exhale

  • how strong our core muscles are

  • how mobile our ribcage (and pelvis) are

In Part II, we will start with the first set of movements we initiate with Breath — those of the Nervous System

Katherine Staiger
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Breath Training Along the Full Movement Spectrum