Breathing, an important and oft overlooked component of fitness and life in general
people pay lip service to the breath, saying you have to breath one way or another
behind the shield
from the belly
from the diaphragm
with the pelvic floor
hold the breath
relax the breath
mechanical
anatomical
reverse
power
confused?
you won't be after this episode of SOAP
SOAP is the acronym I have come up with to describe my philosophy on breath work
Simple
Optimal
Active
Practiced
keep it simple
really what is breathing anyway
it is a blood gas exhange that takes place in the lungs
the alveoli absorb an oxygen molecule from the gases we inhale (not all of what we breathe in is o2, FYI:Air is made up of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and small quantities of CO2, argon and helium) O2 moves through the alveoli to the pulmonary capillaries, then oxygenated blood moves into the pulmonary veins which return to the left side of the heart to be pumped to the tissues via red blood cells (which is why we need Iron in our diet and in many cases must supplement to get the Iron we need, most men and women especially, are deficient in Iron)
From the blood to the tissues and cells, O2 gets carried along and exchanged for Co2 (exhaled)
this is the baseline explanation of the blood gas exchange that is breathing
lets get simpler
Breathe, with every part of you that can breathe, this means full breaths, complete expansion of the ribs and stomach, all the way down to the bottom of the lungs and full relaxed exhale, forget about whether or not you need abdominal tension to brace or axial lengthening or anything else for now,
Just focus on the breath
Are you getting a full inhale and exhale on each breath?
want to alkylize the blood?
breathe
want to lower your blood pressure?
breathe
want to get stronger?
breathe
Want to .....
just Breathe....
Optimal
What is the optimal breathing pattern for you?
what are you doing?
why are you doing it?
are you under a load or not
standing, lying down, bent over, folded up like a card table?
here I may depart from some of my peers, and from the opinions of the fitness mavens and popular folks out there in iron land
groovy
this does not bother me...
the optimal breathing pattern
for YOU
not me, or the guy on the bus stop bench next to you rocking out to Jethro Tull and eating cheetos out of a baggie,
YOU
is the breathing pattern that is the most efficient for the given task
this means, that the Optimal breathing pattern is the one that gets the most oxygen into your cells, with the least amount of effort, and is still consistent with the activity you are participating in
frankly, if you can run a 100 yard dash and not breathe hard, that would be Optimal
if you can lift your 1 rep max in a deadlift and never grunt
that is Optimal
I will say that breathing with your neck and trapezius muscles, is not optimal
breathing with your mouth, not likely the most optimal methodology
holding your breath, unless you are swimming, is not optimal
So, Bracing
yep, great, go nuts,
still have to breathe, and breathing into the deepest part of your lungs will allow for more o2 to be delivered to the cells, which means more atp production, which means more muscular contraction, which means ........
Active
don't passively breathe
be active about it, draw breath in and exhale willfully
sure
its a reflex
still
practice breathing like every other thing, as a skill
(more on skill development in a later posting)
become a master of the breath and you will be aware of your body, which will lead to more fine motor and thus more gross motor skill
period
full stop
even Anatomical breathing is an active endeavor after a certain point, as you will start to want to suck air in as though it were going out of style when your hear rate goes up
(honestly, if you are in a state where you are sucking air in, you may want to rest, this is not efficient, unless you are working on distress or stress reaction management, more on that in a later post)
Practiced
that word again
yes
it means exactly what I think it means, that is why I keep using it
Practice different methods of breathing
like
a
skill
develop breathing
as
a
skill
become a master of your breath
you would be amazed at how simple other activities can become when you can manage your breath
it is the one reflexive action, the single autonomic nervous system function, that we can exercise a good amount of control over and thereby control of our physical, mental, and emotional state
5 minutes of crocodile breathing can establish the baseline for good breathing while moving
which will lead to higher quality movement
which can quickly establish new movement patterns that are more efficient
which can remove compensatory patterns built up to overcome restrictions caused by poor movement, or guarding reflexes stemming from prior injuries or trauma (even if it was 10 years ago, the residual effect can still be with you)
which can lead to......
seriously
5 minutes on your stomach, breathing into your gut and not your chest (accessory breathing, akin to doing tens of thousands of shoulder shrugs every day, sore neck and shoulders? really? you don't say....) can set the stage for some serious strength and mobility work
Breath,
Posture,
Strength,
Speed,
Stamina
the 5 Rings of Fitness
next
Posture
why the spine is the most important component of any physical endeavor
