It's a Good Idea to Breathe!

It is said that we can survive 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food but little more than 3 minutes without breathing. Normally, the function of breathing takes place without any direct help from us – it is continuous and we do not think about it, assuming there is no underlying, pathological problem. Most people, when they take part in sports, exercise or even a brisk walk, become aware that they are not breathing well and that they are in oxygen deficit. Sometimes, to correct this problem, they may try breathing exercises. These exercises usually involve ‘pushing out’ either the chest or the abdomen – requiring a lot of effort for very little air.

Upper Chest Breathing

Abdominal Breathing

Generally, the reason why we are unable to take a full breath is that our muscles are holding the ribs stiffly instead of allowing them to move.Breathing exercises do not seem to address the problem of why the ribs are so fixed and held.  Because our poor postural habits have interfered with the reflexes that support us, abdominal and chest muscles contract to assist the stability of the trunk. Breathing is then restricted and becomes shallower and more rapid.

What is Breathing?

We breathe in to gain oxygen (which we use to make energy) we breathe out to lose the waste products of energy production (carbon dioxide). Poor breathing can lead to feeling tired and lacking energy because the cells of your body may not be getting enough oxygen and there is insufficient elimination of carbon dioxide.  Due to its intrinsic elasticity, the rib cage, if it is not held down by muscular tension, tends to lift and widen itself. To breathe in all we need do is allow the rib cage to expand which, in turn, increases the volume of the lungs. A system of breathing reflexes uses, as much as possible, the intrinsic elasticity of the rib cage. These reflexes use appropriate muscles to expand the space of the rib cage even further to make room for the volume of air your lungs are demanding. Air pushes into the lungs by air pressure. Air pressure is approximately 15lbs per square inch or 1kg per square centimetre, therefore, we do not have to 'pull’ air in. All we need take care of is that we are not holding the ribs down or blocking the airways.

Rectus Abdominis

This connects the pubis bone to the ribs at the level of the heart. When it contracts, it pulls the ribs down. Allowing rectus abdominis to release from pubis to the ribs releases the abdomen, ribs float and become less fixed so that there is greater freedom of breath. This is why sit-ups are harmful. The function of rectus abdominis is to allow the intrinsic upward release of the rib cage. They should not be trained to hold the ribs down.

Allowing rectus abdominis to release from pubis to the ribs releases the abdomen, ribs float and become less fixed so that there is
greater freedom of breath.

   

The Oblique Muscles

Internal and external oblique muscles produce the curve of the waist. They play a role in the spiral/twisting movements of the body such as swimming, walking and running. They affect breathing by pulling down on the ribs when they contract. Combined with the interferences of rectus abdominis, etc. they tend to hold the ribs in a depressed position, like a corset, making breathing more effortful. We tend to compensate subconsciously by trying to breathe harder or use ‘abdominal breathing’ i.e. instead of the ribs moving, the abdomen pushes out. Your lungs are not in your abdomen.

Internal Oblique

External Oblique

Diaphragm

The diaphragm is a large sheet of domed muscle with a stalk that attaches to the spine so that it looks like a lop-sided mushroom. It attaches to the lower end of the breastbone, the spine and the floating ribs. The diaphragm rises to achieve maximum exhale so that air pressure inside the chest cavity decreases. Air pushes into the lungs by the force of the surrounding air pressure at 15lbs per square inch so that internal and external air pressure become equalised. 

Maximumum exhale front view

Maximum exhale side view

The only part of the breathing cycle over which we constructively exercise any element of control is on the out-breath to talk, sing and play a musical instrument. Provided there is not a collapse during the out-breath and the natural lengthening tendency of the spine has been maintained, the in-flow of breath will freely match the expenditure of the out-flow of breath. 

Maximum inhale front view

Maximum inhale side view

Breathing then has very little to do with raising and lowering the shoulders or pushing the abdomen in and out. The torso remains lengthened and there is a smooth in-flow and out-flow of breath.

From school we are told to ‘take a deep breath and…’ what we need to do is breathe out.

 

Proprioception

‘The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something because it is always before one’s eyes). The real foundations of his enquiry do not strike a man at all.’

Wittgenstein

It is important to remember that human evolution has taken at least 5 million years; we are only able to describe the last few thousand as ‘civilised’, implying that our biology is the product or result of the slowly changing demands of nature. "We live in a time of rapid change" is a phrase in constant use these days usually referring to technological advances, scientific breakthroughs and so on. It also applies to us as a society – ideas change, different political parties come and go and social norms shift. Obviously, as individuals we are affected too.

Before modern times, this slow rate of change allowed humans to adapt the body gradually and unconsciously to new conditions. Now, however, we are able to change the environment around us and we do it more and more rapidly. Think for a moment of your day, from when you wake up in the morning, and contrast it with what living in the wild must have been like. We react to the events we cannot hear or see directly via telephone, radio and TV. What do such upheavals do to our bodies, not to mention our minds and relationships? Is it any wonder many of us become over-tense and collapse in a heap at the end of such a day? We become so preoccupied with signals from the outside world that signals from within the body become supressed, resulting in poor muscle function.

The changes mentioned above are only a few of those that occur constantly in our everyday lives. In total, they are more dramatic and wide-ranging than we imagine. Because of this tension in our bodies, the information our brains receive about where parts of the body are and what they are doing relative to each other, whether they are moving or still, is less reliable than when we lived in the wild. This information concerning the state of the body, called ‘proprioception’ by Charles Sherrington in the 1890s, comes mainly from the joints, tendons, and muscles. In addition to the five senses that we traditionally know, proprioception has been called our ‘sixth sense’.

The importance of proprioception cannot be exaggerated: it is so automatic, so familiar that we never give it a moment’s thought. It is the basis for balance, posture and movement. Even more fundamental, it is the basis for our sense of self. The neurologist Oliver Sacks’ in his book, ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’, wrote a case study entitled, ‘The Disembodied Lady’, about a woman who lost almost all proprioception. It vividly illustrates this aspect of proprioception and her accompanying loss of her sense of self, and her emotional, as well as physical difficulties, make harrowing reading.

We do not notice the general deterioration in the way we use our bodies due to our loss of proprioceptive acuity. We do not consider the possible effect of the general misuse of our bodies on our ability to carry out ordinary as well as skilled actions, on our health and even on our underlying psychological state. Instead, we only notice specific symptoms and then try to treat them in isolation. We do not see the connection of a headache, for example, to the way we are using our body.

Exercise Facts and Fallacies

Alexander Technique is not an exercise but is a detailed study of the fundamental principles of human co-ordination and movement that underlies all activity. A unique form of neuro-muscular rebalancing, it is concerned with how you direct your Primary Control. Primary Control is a fundamental concept of The Alexander Technique that describes a certain relationship between the head, neck and back and how this relationship affects poised, co-ordinated action. Alexander teachers call this ‘use’, i.e. how you use your head, neck, back relationship so that you maintain a central co-ordination of the trunk as a core structure. The technique ensures that, in using your limbs, breathing, voice, etc. the central co-ordination of the head, neck and back is not disturbed.

drawings taken from 'The Alexander Principle', Wilfred Barlow

Why exercise is not always the solution

Core stability exercises were devised in response to the perceived problem of poor support. The exercises encourage concentration on individual muscle activation during activity to stabilise ‘the core’ in order to support an area known to have weakness. The problem with this action is that it is contrary to the function of the nervous system. If our innate balance mechanisms are allowed to perform their function unimpeded, there is no need to consciously engage muscle or strengthen the middle of the structure independently. In the absence of interference, the reflexes responding to gravity will help to ensure optimum balance and movement. 

However, exercise cannot ensure ‘good use’ of the body. We have probably "exercised" ourselves into bad posture by just doing a normal daily routine for years and years. Now we are proposing to exercise our way back out of it. If we have learned misuse or poor postural habits, when we exercise, we will exercise with misuse unless we deal with our misuse and learn to eliminate it. It is also worth noting that we cannot exercise these deep stabilising, supporting muscles to produce strength; these muscles are reflexive and not subject to our direct control.

A few more exercise fallacies

Sadly, doing sit-ups will not flatten your tummy. There is a layer of fat between the muscle and the skin and if this layer of fat is excessive, the only way to flatten your stomach is to lose fat – harsh but true.

The muscle that we call the ‘six-pack’ that shows its definition so strongly is Rectus Abdominis. It runs from the pubic bone to the lower end of the breastbone (sternum).

Sit-ups will over-tighten 

Rectus Abdominis and when it is over-tightened it pulls down the rib cage, rounds the shoulders and pulls the neck forward.

Drawing of 'muscle man' reproduced by kind permission of Christopher Stevens

And while we are on the subject of facts and fallacies...how about relaxation?
It is tempting to think that the solution to many of our problems is to ‘just relax’ but what do we mean by relaxation? We would like to think that by relaxing we are letting go of excessive tension in our muscles. Most people when they relax, however, over-slacken their muscles and the result is collapse. What is actually needed is appropriate tension in the muscles: collapse is not relaxed.

See Professor Lederman's research 'Myth of Core Stability'