How strong are your respiratory muscles?

Take a moment and start counting the duration of your inhalation and exhalation. Does the pace at which you're breathing feel like your normal? Is it easier to inhale or exhale? Where do you find the breath entering and exiting? Does it most easily move in and out of your belly or your upper chest? Do your lower ribs move when you exhale? I find that most people don't move their lower ribs in the respiratory cycle, which means they're missing out on a full breath. This can go on for years and impacts pretty much every other system in your body, including your digestive and nervous systems.

How does the breath cycle work?

The diaphragm acts as a plunger system, pulling air into our bodies and filling our lungs (fun fact: the lungs are kind of like origami-folded tissue that unfolded are the size of a tennis court). The diaphragm is a muscle, so it has a full range of motion like any other muscle, yet most of us only 'exercise' it in a very short range. We shallowly breathe due to stress and holding a posture that we think is 'good', more on that in a moment. If you consider how the diaphragm typically works in this short cycle, it would be like doing thousands of tiny bicep curls all day long--sounds kind of funny when you think about it that way, right? The diaphragm is the main breathing muscle, yet there are several other secondary muscles that help out. One of my favorite groups is the intercostals. These muscles glide in beteeen each rib and help to expand and contract our rib cage. They are, however, weak for most folks.

How do the intercostals weaken and why should I take ever loving care of them?

As previously mentioned, most of us breathe shallowly as a stress-holding pattern. For some, this means weak and tight intercostals, so it's hard to inhale and expand them. For others, they're weak and puffed out (barrel-chested) and it's harder to exhale. In the latter case, I find that people assume this posture thinking they have good and confident posture--yet you can't breathe. Another way this pattern can occur is from sucking the stomach in or wearing restrictive clothing. Try sucking your stomach in right now and you'll feel your rib cage puff. Either way, we want these guys to be able to expand and contract fully, just like our biceps.

Strong intercostals and respiratory muscles help massage your stomach as you breathe, enabling your digestive system to do its thing. They also help to keep your nervous system at ease and not in fight-or-flight mode. As an added bonus, you're strethening your core muscles, which will give you organic, proper posture. If you're active, tapping into a full breath cycle, including the plunger power of your diaphragm, will take your athletic abilities to the next level.

How do I strengthen my respiratory muscles?

To start, be more conscious of your breath. I love the count breath. Try to equal out your inhalation and exhalation and then gradually add another count. Say you start at a 4 count, can you gradually reach your way to an 8? As you continue to add time, focus on squeezing the air out of your rib cage during the exhalation, contracting your intercostals.

You can also try these exercises over a towel, ball, pillow or foam roller.

I integrate breath work into my sessions with clients so that you can grow these muscles, bettering your digestive and nervous systems, while improving your posture and core. In finding your breath, you find your power!

Why is my body tight?

This is a question I'm often asked and believe that we have to look at more than just range-of-motion or trigger points for a good explanation. Some clients immediately tell me that their body is tight because it runs in their family, like they have an inflexiblity gene and traditional stretching just doesn't work for them. I see body tightness that runs in families as a cultural way that the family deals with stress and how we then handle stress as adults. Are things shoved under the rug or not acknowledged? Or, are things discussed and worked through together? Do you feel overwhelmed and overburdened by responsibility? Or, are you able to shift your perspective and carve out some self-care time?

The nervous system automatically charges up to help when we're stressed (sympathetic nervous system). One result when it kicks in is that the muscles tighten to prepare for action--we can see this in animals. When they perceive a threat, the breath cycle shortens, their whole body tightens and is ready to pounce. When we, as humans, hold in this way everyday, it leads to chronic body tightness and fatigue.

To offset this stress from a movement perspective, we most often think exercise. Yet, how many of us hold our breath when we try to burn off some steam? Muscles can't relax if they're being starved of oxygen. As someone who is also prone to this, I've started doing some diaphragm releases to connect with my breath before I intentionally move. This is my favorite diaphragm release to do pre-workout.

Ki Hara active stretching unwinds tension from the body, creating space for more breath. Clients always stand up at the end of a session saying they feel more alive, relaxed and have more blood flowing through their body. We target the areas you personally hold tension and dynamically release muscle tension there. Full body stretching like in the photo above, allows for the body to have a feeling of flow over bracing. To learn more, click here.