PATHFIT 1

BREATHING AND
BRACING
TECHNIQUES
 Breathing:
-Mostly focusing on a long and relaxing exhale and proper
inhale to use breathing to set the position of our ribcage
and pelvis. This is a lower threshold activity,
 -We want to be casually breathing to
stabilize our spine during any activities
that are not true high intensity efforts. This
starts at positional breathing drills and
goes all the way up through core
activities, assistance work, and also
lighter squatting and deadlifting for most
clients.
-We want to breathe properly to stabilize
our spine and thorax by putting our
major joints in proper positions.

The thoracic spine – features –

joints - ligaments
 If we always create a forceful inhale
and hold when we lift, we will probably present
with much more extensor tone (Muscle tone is
traditionally defined as 'the tension in the relaxed muscle' or 'the
resistance, felt by the examiner during passive stretching of a joint
than necessary. In addition,
when the muscles are at rest)

we might never be able to shut off the

sympathetic tone (The part of the autonomic nervous system
that is concerned especially with preparing the body to react to
situations of stress or emergency;)
 Our blood pressure will be much
higher, and we will tire our much easier.
Therefore, it will be much more effective
to stabilize ourselves with a lower
threshold breathing strategy that allows for
a long full exhale.
congruous meaning –
appropriate , harmony
BREATH FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY
The general rule of thumb is to inhale through your nose, so
the air enters your belly, right before the eccentric (muscle-
lengthening) part of the motion.

Exhale during the concentric (muscle-shortening) part of

the motion completely through your mouth.
Take the squat for example: You should inhale just before
you begin to lower down, and exhale as you extend your
legs back to the starting position.

Or the push up: Inhale, bend your elbows to lower your

body down to the ground, and exhale as you rise back up.
It may be tempting to hold your breath during
weight lifting — don’t!
Making a habit of holding your breath can cause your
blood pressure to rise, possibly resulting in dizziness,
nausea or even a heart attack.
Instead, use your exercise as a time to practice deep
breaths. Deep breaths can lower your blood pressure,
enhance relaxation, and may even play a role in how our
bodies break down sodium Trusted Source.
Benefits of practicing proper breathing

It is not called “The Breath of Life” for

nothing. One of the most basic functions of
the human body, breathing not only fuels
the body with oxygen, it can also clear a
foggy mind and help strengthen the
muscles. Yet few people learn how to
breathe in a way that allows the body to
function the way it should.
The Process of Breathing
Before you can understand proper breathing
techniques, it is important to know a little about how
your body breathes. When you breathe in, or inhale, the
muscle on the bottom of your ribcage, called your
diaphragm, contracts and moves downward. This
allows the lungs to have ample room to expand. The
muscles between your ribs, called the intercostal
muscles, contract to pull your ribcage upward and
outward.
As your lungs expand, air is sucked in through your
nose and mouth and travels down your trachea to your
lungs. After passing through your bronchial tubes, the
air finally reaches the air sacs where oxygen is passed
into the blood stream. At the same time, carbon
dioxide travels into the air sacs from the blood stream
and is expelled from the body as you exhale. On
average, this process is repeated between 17,000-
30,000 a day, every day, as long as a person is alive.
Did you know that the average human repeats a
breath cycle 17,000 to 30,000 times a day?
One of the most essential activities of the
human body, breathing affects everything
from the way we fuel our body to the way
we clear our heads. Every bodily system
relies on oxygen to function at its highest
potential. In fact, the majority of the toxins
inside of your body will be removed by the
lungs.
-But even though our breath is essential to our
physical and mental well-being, it has been
proven that we use less of our lung capacity
as we grow older.

- Think about it. When you’re stressed, is your

breath deep or shallow? If you’re like most
people, you probably hold your breath. But
this is the worst thing to do. What we really
need to do when we’re stressed is breathe.
There are so many health issues and
benefits tied to your breath.
Understanding the importance of
breathing correctly is one of the
biggest health changes you can
make.
BENEFITS OF PROPER BREATHING
When we inhale and exhale completely,
1. our breath can boost our energy levels,
2.relieve pain and stress,
3.improve our immune system and help us sleep
better.
4.It also helps us recover from exercise, pain or
illness more quickly.
 While there are many different
physical health benefits to proper
breathing, it can also have a positive
effect on our mental state. Deep
breathing can signal your body to
relax in times of stress, uncertainty or
fear.
What Deep Breathing Can Help
1.Anxiety
2.Depression
3.Managing stress
4.Improving focus
5.Better sleep
6.Faster recovery from exercise or exertion
1) Decreases stress, increases calm. When you
become stressed or anxious, your brain releases
cortisol, the “stress hormone.” By taking deep
breaths, your heart rate slows, more oxygen enters
our blood stream and ultimately communicates
with the brain to relax. Deep breathing also ups
your endorphins, the “feel good” chemical.

2) Relieves pain. As stated above, deep breathing

triggers the release of endorphins, which not only
helps create a feeling ing, but also combats pain.
3) Stimulates the lymphatic system (Detoxifies
the body). Breathing releases carbon monoxide,
which is important to fully release. Actually,
breathing is in charge of 70% of cleansing the
body of toxins (the other 30% is through bladder
and bowels.) If you do not breathe fully, your
body must work overtime to release these toxins.
4) Improves immunity. When your blood is fully
oxygenated, it carries and absorbs nutrients and
vitamins more efficiently. Essentially, the cleaner
the blood, the harder it is for illnesses to stay put in
your system.
5) Increases energy. The more oxygen that is in the
blood, the better our body functions. It also
improves our stamina.
6) Lowers blood pressure. As your muscles relax, this
allows your blood vessels to dialate, which improves
circulation and lowers blood pressure. Deep breathing
also slows and regulates the heart rate, which also helps
with lowering your BP.

7) Improves digestion. The more you breathe deep, the

more healthier blood flow you will produce, which in
turn promotes your organs to function more effectively,
including your intestines.
8) Helps support correct posture. Next time you
breathe in, notice that you simultaneously lengthen and
straighten your spine. In order to take a deep breath in,
your lungs take up maximum space, your diaphragm
pulls down, so in turn your torso straightens in order for
this to be possible.

Now, deep breathing is something that is unnatural for

your body to do, so just like learning any new skill, it
takes practice!
Bracing:
A forceful holding of breath that uses a higher
threshold strategy to stabilize the thorax and
pelvis. This is often the Valsalva maneuver.
However, there are times where we really need to brace and hold
a powerful inhale to stabilize ourselves. Usually, this will happen
under really heavy loads for higher-level athletes. When we
brace, we can create a large amount of air pressure to keep us
stable, but this comes with a cost.

Bracing your core requires you to engage your entire trunk –

abdominals, pelvic floor, diaphragm, and spinal erectors – to
create the stability required to lift safely. It also ensures an
effective force transfer through your body to move the weight.
So when lifting requires a brace using the Valsalva maneuver, we MUST
first get a long and FULL exhale with rib internal rotation and some
degree of posterior pelvic tilt. After that exhale, we should pause for a
second or two and then inhale. But here is the kicker; when we inhale we
must keep our abs on to eccentrically internally rotate our ribs. In other
words, they have to prevent our ribs from flying up when we inhale. If that
happens, we just extend our back and will not have the abdominals and hip
extensors in proper positions to stabilize our thorax and extend our hip.
The air can go to two places when we inhale, and the position that we start
from is the determining factor. It can go in the front of our ribcage as we
extend our back, or we can keep the ribs down and have it go in the back
of our upper back. We want the latter to drive stability by using air
pressure and correct biomechanics instead of relying on extensor tone and
passive constraints to stabilize ourselves.
Why brace?
Bracing is important to - hold the torso in a position that is
most efficient for a particular movement such as a squat or
deadlift. During a heavy squat, it is important to brace
before you lower yourself and maintain this the entire
movement. This will keep you in a strong and safe position
where you can generate more force due to the tension built
within your abdominal cavity. This is the same for
deadlifting, and you brace at the bottom of the lift.
Why Is the Core so Important?

The core muscles have two main functions 1)

to spare the spine from excessive load and 2)
to transfer force from the lower body to the
upper body and vice versa. Having a strong,
stable core helps us to prevent injuries and
allows us to perform at our best.
Injuries to the spine tend to come from a
combination of bending forward, side to side
or rotating excessively. Back injuries are not
usually linked to one specific incident (lifting
something heavy), but rather to a history or
excessive load with bad mechanics.
Having a stable core is important for preventing
injuries and also for enhancing performance in
sports and other activities. Don’t worry about
training specific muscles - they are ALL
important for spinal stability. Think instead about
how the body moves and how to challenge the
core from bending and twisting too much in any
direction. Having a neutral spine throughout the
duration of the exercises is critical to executing
them correctly and safely.
The muscles of the core are built for
endurance, not for maximum strength, so
it’s best to increase reps as strength
improves.
What Is the Valsalva Maneuver?
The Valsalva maneuver is a breathing method that
may slow your heart when it’s beating too fast. To do it,
you breathe out strongly through your mouth while holding
your nose tightly closed. This creates a forceful strain that
can trigger your heart to react and go back into normal
rhythm.

In some cases, doctors also use the maneuver to test

how well your heart is working. You might already use a
version of it to help make your ears “pop” because of air
pressure, like when flying on a plane.
Here’s how with the squat
-Inhale
-Brace
-squat down
-stand up and begin to exhale halfway through or
wait until the motion is completed
-un-brace
-repeat
Safety issues and concern
Safety is the #1 priority when it comes to
weight training. Having poor lifting form can
result in back pain or severe injuries to your
spine. Using abdominal bracing and
breathing techniques will give you proper
posture and stabilize your back while lifting.
Breathing: Mostly focusing on a long and
relaxing exhale and proper inhale to use
breathing to set the position of our ribcage
and pelvis. This is a lower threshold
activity, Bracing: A forceful holding of
breath that uses a higher threshold
strategy to stabilize the thorax and pelvis.
 Title Lorem Ipsum

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, NUNC VIVERRA IMPERDIET ENIM. PELLENTESQUE HABITANT MORBI
CONSECTETUER ADIPISCING ELIT. FUSCE EST. VIVAMUS A TELLUS. TRISTIQUE SENECTUS ET NETUS.