To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question!
Actually the question is “when” to breathe or “how” to breathe. The standard recommendation is to inhale during the eccentric phase (EP) of the repetition and exhale during the concentric phase (CP) of the repetition. Not bad general advice, but when you are working with a beginner just getting them to inhale and exhale during strength training is a victory, period.
Making sure that one does not hold their breath, especially during maximal lifts, is critical. There may be some benefits to inhaling during the eccentric phase (EP) of a repetition and exhaling during the concentric phase (CP) during strength training, but I believe you have to address this before you put a weight in some one’s hand.
I often times begin with a “breathing test” to assess function of inspiration and expiration.
Short 1 minute 32 second video of a breathing test here…
(WOW! What a goofy still shot! lol)
I teach clients the importance of proper breathing patterns (more on this another time but activation of deep intrinsic stabilizers and relaxation of global musculature) and the drawing in maneuver.
NOT THE VACUUM POSE!
You can get fancy with alternating nostril breathing techniques and such.. ..which is great, it just depends how thorough you want to be.
Just enough to get this to happen…
…and get these working together
Negative impact of not breathing? Well, yes, death…
…but increased arterial pressure (good old valsalva!) is a significant concern among the general fitness client and even amongst elite level power lifters and Olympic weightlifters performing max efforts lifts. So breathing consistently and comfortably are hugely important but the inhale on the EP and exhale on the CP may actually provide a better mechanical platform for us to produce force from and keep our spine and accessory structures (from discs to ribs).*for more on this see Chaitow and McConnell below…
We know that if we do not provide the necessary oxygen to working muscles, their performance will suffer. We also know that specific muscles can be conditioned…or deconditioned…so a deconditioned diaphragm may rob oxygen (Robin Hood Effect) from the larger muscles during athletic activity and negatively impact performance.
Breathing can be complicated when you peel back the layers.
I learned about four different types of breathing from Scott Sonnan 1) Normal volume(clavicular)-talking volume 2) Complementary volume (intercostal)-medium intensity exercise breathing 3) Supplementary volume (diaphragmatic)-high intensity level exhales 4) Residual (reserve)-which we have unless a lung is punctured or we expire
So..learn to breathe, learn to breathe while activating the core stabilizers and then learn to inhale during he Eccentric Phase and exhale during the Concentric Phase.
For some more reading on breathing…
By Leon Chaitow from Massage and Body Work Magazine. Click the link below
Two videos for you tonight. the first is about 8 minutes and in it I cover the importance of blogging.
The second video is a little longer, but it builds on the importance of blogging and takes you through a step by step process of how to start your own blog! The screen shots are a few seconds behind my voice, but you can still follow along. Instead of waiting to do it another night, I wanted to just take action and get you going in the right direction. I apologize, but about 1/2 way through or so my mouse acts up on me and there is a dead space for about 60 seconds. Stay with it, fast forward if you can. So get to watching and START BLOGGING TODAY!!!
Do not wait for perfection-TAKE ACTION!
Be the the change that you want to see in the world- Mahatama Ghandi (or Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror if you are not into the Mahatama)
Thanks for stopping by! I set this blog up to answer some common questions about the ATeam and NASM Pro.
Here are a few quick videos to try and answer some questions.
This is a funny 23 second clip that I shot tonight while I was buying food for my lab, Murphy, at the pet store.
This reminds me of the grind that most people are caught up in in “the real world”. A boring treadmill that doesn’t get you anywhere. Never mind that the poor guy that decides to join the race just gets repeatedly trampled by the fella who is laser focuses on working harder…not smarter…This video represents so many things for me, I can’t believe that I just shot this at the pet store, I just thought it was cool to see this little guy bombing around and then the other guy just hurls himself right on the wheel! Is this real life or what??? Never mind how this relates to our clients!
Don’t get caught on the treadmill struggling to get nowhere!
And don’t run other people over on the way…lift them up! Move, touch and inspire them! that is our call. NASM Pro is a powerful vehicle that will multiply our efforts and the ATeam, the organization that I am starting is going to lead the way.
I have invested countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars into my education, and continue to do so every single day with topics like; human movement, corrective exercise, biomechanics…but also personal and professional development, marketing, psychology, Internet marketing (there was 7,700,000 hits for “personal trainer” on Google today…were you one of those? I have so much to share with you and as out team grows you can push content up to the rest of our group and share what you know too! We can really support each other.
Do you want to leverage your time and efforts? Work smarter not harder? Then join the ATeam and let’s make a bigger difference together!
Feel free to share this site with others and please let me know if you have any questions, even better, send me an email or leave a comment and I will make sure to email you before this thing kicks off to everyone else. Remember…to join the team, you must sign up under my code!
Short list of NASM PRO features; brand new exercise library, anatomy library, updated research library, a safe and legal way to individualize nutrition and supplement plans for your clients and enjoy a revenue sharing program with products like bands, balls, rollers and supplements sold to your clients (or bought for yourself) through the site, and the killer ATeam section I will be running JUST FOR US!!!!
It will be easier to help more people and make more money with this system.
In the mean time, I will use this blog to start coaching the team for FREE. I will have another post up for you by Tuesday morning at the latest.
Feel free to post comments or ask questions and share with others.
Just like “Hannibal”, “Faceman”, “Howling Mad Murdoch” and “B.A Baracus” (Bad Attitude if you didn’t know)…this rag tag group with common bonds and special skills worked together in an unorthodox manner as well intentioned mercenaries to fight injustices. Somehow it all came together at the end of each episode..you can hear Hannibal now “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Can you imagine BA on a foam roller??? lol!!
Who would you be??? Faceman was always my favorite as a kid!
I feel like the plan is coming together for me too which means I am another step closer to helping more people directly with corrective exercise, moving touching and inspiring even more professionals to do the same, finding a way to give back to the community and providing for my family while I do it. Now that fires me up!!!
Why am I so bleary eyed in my video below?? I flew to Mesa Arizona to visit the corporate offices of the National Academy of Sports Medicine for a training on the NEW NASM PRO and to lay down some audio for the site webinar tutorials. This sound room was cool, you don’t see all the material on the other walls that absorbed the extra sound!
Here I am with two of my good buddies Marty Miller an ATC, CES and an NASM Instructor for NASM (left) and Scott Pullen Director of Fitness and Nutrition Education for dtoFIT.com-or some fancy tittle these days- (with the guns) at lunch.
I haven’t been there since before they switched buildings, must have been 2 years before that. I am at the Calabasas location @ 3 times a year to teach however. Here is a pic of me with Ben Tucker the President of NASM PRO, great guy and devoted family man.
Here is a short video that I shot this morning while waiting for my shuttle at Logan Airport. I look pretty rough…actually still fee pretty rough, but was too excited to sleep on the plane and have not been to bed since Wednesday night!
The topic of dips comes up at workshops that I teach pretty frequently. They have been a staple of the body building, group exercise and body weight training scene for years. A simple take off on the parallel bars or rings in gymnastics.
So what’s the big deal about dips??? Well Google shoulder pain and there are over 11,100,000 hits. Too many shoulder problems! See the end of my post for more rationale on taking care with shoulder movements* I wish I learned more about biomechanics and corrective exercise before I did too many dips!
Optimal r.o.m. for humeral extension (sagital plane) is @45 degrees. Most people do not have optimal posture or r.o.m. Forcing the humerus past it’s natural end point will yield 2 negative results 1) excessive pressure of the humeral head into the anterior capsule of the gleno-humeral joint 2) tipping of the scapulae.
It is common that many people will have restrictions in the posterior and inferior capsules of their shoulder which forces the head of the humerus to migrate interiorly and superiorly respectively. Bones move away from tightness/restriction and create ligamentous and capsular laxity, joint instability and/or impingement while moving in the opposite directions. Forcing the head of the humerus anteriorly repeatedly, especially under load and with momentum with little focus on eccentric deceleration as most people who perform dips do, will wear out the anterior capsule of the shoulder. Once the passive stabilization of the joint is compromised (this is a permanent situation by the way) the active system (muscles and tendons) must become more active to protect the joint. This can have an impact from one joint throughout the entire kinetic chain. Take for instance the latissimus dorsi tightening up to make up for a stretched out joint capsule in the glenohueraml joint. The Lat originates in the thoraco lumbar fascia and has insertion points into the sacrum, illium, lumbar spine, thoracic spine and inferior angle of the scapulae. All of these joints can be negatively impacted by loss optimal force coupling around them which can in turn impact the femur and further down the kinetic chain leading to increases susceptibility of ankle sprains, patella femoral pain and low back pain. So the argument of I have been doing dips for years and my shoulders do not hurt is a tough one to make.
Also, repetitive and excessive tipping of the scapulae can alter Length Tension Relationships and Neuromuscular Efficiency around the shoulder complex, head and cervical spine, traumatize the rotator cuff tendons (mostly infraspinatus and supraspinatus in this scenario), aggravate bursae sacs and increase cervical extension yielding increased pressure on the cervical discs. Know anyone with tight necks? Headaches? Over-active levator scpulae?
This…
Plus this…
Will lead to this…
Do to the seated posture and “upper cross syndrome” apparent in most clients personal training clients and gym goers today, the above scenario will contribute to their preexisting imbalances and accelerate wear and tear on components of the passive system. Ligaments wear out like the rubber on the bottom of your sneakers…it’s just a question of when they wear down? 30?40? 85? or in the grave???
This is a high risk exercise option for the triceps, pectoral complex or shoulder complex. These muscles can be targeted with much safer alternatives with minimized risk regardless of the patient, client or athletes goals..
if someone MUST “dip”…1) the Life Fitness Signature Series Tricep machine looks and feels like a seated dip machine, but does not allow the user’s humerus to extend past 45 degrees it is very comfortable and fills the need most people are looking for.
2) Sitting on a bench with your hands on two dumbbells at tour side for lower trap activation can be pretty helpful. Having trouble loading my picture of this one.
3) other than that..shallow range of motion dips that do not let the humerus extend more than 45 degrees are a better option than what is seen in most gym, classes or health clubs.
I know they FEEL GOOD sometimes and can be good for the ego…but there is life after ego and plenty of exercises to blast away at those muscles with a much lower risk of trauma.
There is more to talk about of course…but I think that is enough for now.
What do you think?
A typical Corrective Exercise program for someone who has been trashing themselves with dips might look something like this;
I wanted to add some more in, but Murphy my lab wanted out of his crate and my 5 year old was itching to play…sorry, he is tough to turn down:)
Shoulder pain and dysfunction rank among the most common of peripheral joint complaints (1)(2)(5)(9)(11). Incidence has been estimated to be between ten and 25 per 1000 patients (1)(2)(11). Pain, injury and instability can be either the cause or the effect of shoulder joint dysfunction (1)(5)(6)(7)(8). The two most frequent diagnoses for patients presenting with shoulder pain are impingement and rotator cuff tendonitis (1)(2)(6)(7)(9)(11). Approximately 48% of patients who have presented with shoulder pain have been diagnosed with impingement syndrome in Dutch general practice (6). Bankart lesions, bursitis, dislocations, separations, rotator cuff disease, osteoarthritis and rotator cuff tears are other common diagnoses (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(11). In order to select the appropriate treatment, the appropriate diagnosis must be made first (6)(7)(8)(11). Treatments range from palliative to curative and may include over-the-counter medications, manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and surgery (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(9)(10)(11).
References:
1) Bang, Michael and Deyle, Gail. (2000). Comparison of Supervised Exercise With and Without Manual Physical Therapy for Patients With Shoulder Impingement Syndrome. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Volume 30 (3), pp. 126-137.
2) Bergman, MScGert J.D. Winters, PhD, C. Jan. Groenier, MsC, H. Klass. Betty. Pool. Meyboom-de Jong, PhD, MD, Betty. Postema, PhD, MD, Klass and van de Heijen, PhD, Geert J.M.G. (2004) Manipulative Therapy in Addition to Usual Medical Care for Patients with Shoulder Dysfunction and Pain. Annals of Internal Medicine, 141, pp. 432-439.
3) Eccles, Nyjon K.,M.R.C.P., Ph.D. (2005). A Critical Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of Static Magnets for Pain Relief. The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, Volume 11, Number 3, pp. 495-509.
4) Fabbriciani, C. Milano, G. Demontis, A. Fadda, S. Ziranu, F. Mulas, PD. (2004). Arthroscopic Versus Open Treatment of Bankart Lesion of the Shoulder: A Prospective Randomized Study. Arthroscopy, May-June; Volume 20, pp. 456-62.
5) Gursel, Kurtai Yesim. Ulus, Yasemin. Biligic, Ayse. Dincer, Gulay and van de Heijen, Geert
JMG . (2004). Adding Ultrasound in the Management of Soft Tissue Disorders of the Shoulder: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Physical Therapy, Volume 84, pp. 336-343.
6) Johansson, Kajsa M. Adolfson, Lars E. and Foldevi, Mats OM. (2005). Effects of Acupuncture Versus Ultrasound in Patients With Impingement Syndrome: Randomized Clinical Trial. Physical Therapy, Volume 85, pp.490-501.
7) McClure, W. Philip. Bialker, Jason. Neff, Nancy. Williams, Gerald. and Karduna, Andrew. (2004). Shoulder Function and 3-Dimentional Kinematics in People With Shoulder Impingement Syndrome Before and After a 6-Week Exercise Program. Physical Therapy, Volume 84, pp. 832-848.
Park, Hying Bin, MD, Yokota, Atsushi, MD, PhD, Gill, Harpreet, MD. Rassi, George, El, MD and McFarland, Edward, MD. (2005). Diagnosis Accuracy of Clinical Tests for the Different Degrees of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Volume 87-A, Number 7, July, pp. 1446-1455.
9) Razavi, Mahanaz and Akuten, Kvaters. (2002). Effects of Acupuncture and Placebo TENS in Addition to Exercise in Treatment of Rotator Cuff Tendonitis. Clinical Rehabilitation, 2004, Volume 18, pp. 872-878.
10) Sperling, John W., MD, Cofield, Robert, MD and Schleck, Cathy, BS. (2004). Rotator Cuff Repair in Patients Fifty Years of Age and Younger. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume 86-A, Number 10, October pp. 2212-2215.
11) van den Dolder, Paul A. and Roberts, David L. (2003). A trial into the effectiveness of soft tissue massage in the treatment of shoulder pain. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy. Volume 49, pp. 183-188.
12) Effects of a shoulder injury prevention strength training program on eccentric external rotator muscle strength and glenohumeral joint imbalance in female overhead activity athletes J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jan; 22(1):140-5. J Strength Cond Res. 2008
I am spending a good chunk of my time today at my desk and look forward to getting up and moving!
I had one of my trainers work me out a couple times over the last few weeks. Why? because I believe in what I do and if I want other people to pay for my services (or barter form them!) then I should be doing that myself. Never mind that it feels great to be a client, it’s fun!
Have you ever been “trained?”…if your answer is “yes” then I bet it was great! If it wasn’t, find a new trainer lol! If your answer was “no I have never been trained as a client”…then what are you waiting for? It is awesome!
This is one of the workouts that we did and it included some Corrective Exercise, Kettlebell Work and Training Rope Drills;
Step 1 Soft Tissue Work/Stretching Active Soleus with lacrosse ball (10reps x 3sets) Thoracic Spine with Rollaxer (120 sec) Thomas test position hip flexor stretch with (MET/static for 30 sec x2) Posterior capsule with The Rotater (2×30 sec internal rotation 90HA) Slant board calve stretch static to active (1x each side)
Step 3 Strength Training Circuit #1 (jogging station to station) Superset DB Incline Chest Press 10 reps 60lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set Lunge to cable chest press 12 reps 25lbs 3-2-1 tempo x 1set
Superset FM Lat Pulldown 10 reps 140lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set SL Squat to 2 Arm Cable Row 10 reps 25lbs 3-2-1 tempo x 1 set
Superset FM Shoulder Press 10 reps 80lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set Training Rope 30 second max effort
Superset FM 2legcable RDL 12 reps 2-0-2 x 1 set KB Swings 30 seconds max effort 39 KG
Step 4 Strength Training Circuit #2 (jogging station to station) Superset DB Incline Chest Press 10 reps 60lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set Lunge to cable chest press 12 reps 25lbs 3-2-1 tempo x 1set
Superset FM Lat Pulldown 10 reps 140lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set SL Squat to 2 Arm Cable Row 10 reps 25lbs 3-2-1 tempo x 1 set
Superset FM Shoulder Press 10 reps 90lbs 2-0-2 tempo x 1 set Training Rope 30 second max effort Training Rope
Superset FM 2legcable RDL 12 reps 2-0-2 x 1 set KB Swings 30 seconds max effort 39 KG
Whew!
It had been a while since I trained with this intensity and will crank up the intensity even more next workout and let you guys know how it goes! Do you wonder what I had Ross (my trainer) do???
This guy (R0ss) put this workout together for me and brought me through it. He hates this picture and he has put on 10-15 pounds of muscle since. He has spent the last year or two getting ready for Osteopathic Medicine School and missed some work outs along the way. He should be starting in January 2010. Ross is a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist though the National Academy of Sports Medicine and works with me at the Longfellow Sports Club in Natick, MA. I am looking forward to Ross joining the A-TEAM!
I can hear Willie Nelson in my ears… “on the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again…”
Isn’t that is backwards though? I want to go home. I am sitting in Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC after teaching an Essentials of Personal Training workshop with my buddy Tony, waiting to get home to me wife and kids. My flight is delayed, as has been the case on 3 of the last 4 flights I have been booked on. It goes with the territory I guess.
I was at the same hotel that I was at in February teaching the Corrective Exercise Specialist workshop. One of the guys that was here then referred his wife Jan to the workshop and I got to meet her this weekend. Thanks Zeb! Zeb came by and said “hi”, we got to catch up a bit after Day 1. It’s always good to see friends on the road. There were at least four other people in the workshop of 50 that I have had as students in the past. One of which said that he didn’t need the continuing education credits, he just had so much fun last time he decided to come back. That is a huge compliment!
He and I talked Corrective Exercise for a long while on Friday night. I even performed an assessment on him. He had injured the medial meniscus skiing this winter and was still having some right knee pain. Check out a video of his movement assessment here.
I did not go through the entire assessment process but believed that I was able to see his primary area of impairment, his right ankle. He does have some issues at his Lumbo-Pelvic Hip Complex (LPHC), and is seeing a chiropractor for them. I believe that focusing on his ankle will positively impact his knee, LPHC and overall movement a good deal. He is not able to move in the Sagital plane very well (dorsiflexion), primarily because of a restriction at his subtalor joint. This contributes to his calcaneous everting, knee moving inwards and his pelvis shifting. He has some compensations on the left side of his body, but let’s focus on the right.
I spent about 15 minutes working with him. Sometimes 15 minutes makes a HUGE difference and sometimes none at all. Here is his after video.
His knee moves inwards less and the calcaneous everts less right away, but does so as he does more reps. I could feel a definite improvement in the quality of the tissue around the talus. Below I will list what I did with him and my recommendations for him moving forward. All work was on the right.
Manual Therapy and Corrective Exercise
1) Trigger Point Therapy /Sustained Direct Pressure / Myopractic (depending what you would call it) on his right lateral gastroc, soleus and peroneals (spent about 4 minutes on the groc. and sol. and about 1 minute on the peroneals)
Subtalor (10 reps with muscle energy techniques and static stretch x 2)
Navicluar 5-6 reps
4) Isometric Muscle Activation
Medial hamstring (1 set of 6)
5) Active Isolated Strengthening
Medial gastroc (with foot/tibial internal rotation) (1 sets of 12)
StabilityBallBridge with right hip abduction (1 set 10 reps)
6) Integration-Body weight squats during reassessment (with alignment cues)
This process took about 15 to 20 minutes. He should probably receive this type of work 3 times a week for 3 weeks for optimal results, adding in therapy on his other tissues to help and stabilize his LPHC and corresponding corrective exercise. We spoke and he is going to ask his chiropractor to treat his ankle/subtalor joint next visit.
What can he do on his own for corrective exercise? Let’s take a look at the most important things to do…there is more yes, let’s just start with the primary impairment…
Step 1-Self Myofascial Release (soft tissue work with Rollaxer, Softball or foam roller)
15 minutes per day distributed between:
Right lateral gastroc-Rollaxer (or firm roller)
Right soleus-Softball
Proximal tensor fascia latte-Rollaxer (or firm roller)
Distal right biceps femoris(short head)/vastus lateralis- Rollaxer (or firm roller or softball)
Proximal right adductor magnus Rollaxer (or firm roller)
Step 2-Self Mobilization subtalor joint with Stretch-Out Strap (2 sets x 10reps @1 minute)
Step 3-Static Stretching (@5 minutes)
Right lateral gastroc and soleus (2×30sec)
Right biceps femoris (short head) (2×30sec)
Right TFL (1-2×30sec)
Right Adductor Magnus (1×30sec)
Step 4-Activation Techniques (@ 5 minutes)
Right medial gastroc (1×12)
Right medial hamstrings (1×12)
Right glute medius (1×12)
Right glute maximus (1×15)
Step 5-Integration Techniques (@ 45 seconds)
Body weight squats (1×12)
Steps 1, 3 and 4 are what I teach at the NASM’s Corrective Exercise Specialist Workshop that I teach. The joint mobilization work I have studied in texts and have learned from other manual therapists, mostly physical therapists and chiropractors and a couple of ATCs.
Thank you for reading and watching…I hope this corrective exercise program will be helpful for my buddy, thanks for the Tea by the way…and the rest of the readers got something from this as well.
…I just found out my flight has been delayed again, that makes it over a 3 hours delay…yessh! Hope I get home tonight, father’s day is tomorrow and I want to be with my wife and kids! Got some good blogging in for you at least! J
I am in Virgina (right on the DC line) to teach an NASM CPT Workshop the next two days with my good friend and fellow Corrective Exercise Specialist, Tony Ambler-Wright. Tony is working on a REALLY cool super-secret project that I can not write about! DOH!
Anyway…he handed me a research study that he heard about on Bill Hartman’s blog. It was;
Stability Training Reduces Hamstring Stiffness by Kuszewski, Gnat and Sauliz 2009.
Sounded cool and I trust Tony’s judgment, he is a voracious reader and very bright and read away. It sounded vaguely familiar and one of the pictures in the article jogged my memory..I had heard of this before, I know! I read about it in…
“Core Competency”
Can spine stabilization play a role in relieving mechanical low back pain?
Sling Exercise Therapy is the technique explored in each of these offerings.
S.E.T. has been described as “Sling Exercise Therapy (SET) is a holistic concept for active treatment and/or training aimed at alleviating or even healing skeleton and muscle complaints. It is based on fundamental elements which are considered to be the most essential elements in active training and active rehabilitation.”
I wish I had one of those!!
In many people their intrinsic core stabilizers …
courtesy of Paul Check
…are so weak their global movers must fire to produce artificial stability of the lumbo-pelvic hip complex.
Tight hamstrings anyone?
Or how about low back pain??
Well..even though Kuszewski’s group was small, the core stabilization training / corrective exercise seemed to decrease tension in the hamstring complex. If the Transverse Abdominus does not activate as part of the feed forward mechanism then the body develops abnormal firing patterns (how about some synergistic dominance of say…the hamstrings???) to try and add stability. Hodges and Richardson state that the “deep subsystem is normally activated before the global one”.
Kuszewski’s et al. write “A person with a deactivated deep muscular subsystem (intrinsic core stabilizers) does not immediately become a disabled person”. Their body finds a way to adapt! Long term these compensatory firing patterns will place abnormal stress on the passive system (ligaments, cartilage, discs etc.) of the human body.
Hey..am I writing about alignment and function again??? YES I AM:)
So this S.E.T. helps to deload the human movement system to quite the overactive synergists so patients can reinstall that feed forward mechanism, activation of other intrinsic stabilizers and coordinated firing patterns.
You start with the shortest lever arm necessary to activate the core stabilizers and firing patterns then progress to a longer lever arm and they work away from the apparatus into more function situations.
There is always more than one way yo do things, but I would like to try this tool since I find myself having to get pretty creative with core stabilization and corrective exercises with many of the patients, clients and athletes that come to see me.
Of course starting with soft tissue work/SMR and corrective flexibility…but this is another tool/technique/approach worth exploring. Have not seen one of these state side, but are more coming in the Netherlands and Germany.
Time for a short video…about a minute and a half. I was asked a question about lunges and knee pain, whether front or back lunges are easier on the knees.
In the video I talk about the difference between quadriceps dominant lunges vs. glute dominant lunges. Quad dominant lunges are the more traditional 90/90 lunge and the glute is closer to a squat variation.
Park, Hying Bin, MD, Yokota, Atsushi, MD, PhD, Gill, Harpreet, MD. Rassi, George, El, MD and McFarland, Edward, MD. (2005). Diagnosis Accuracy of Clinical Tests for the Different Degrees of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Volume 87-A, Number 7, July, pp. 1446-1455.
by the way…and the rest of the readers got something from this as well. 
Correct Breathing Patterns During Exercise
To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question!
Actually the question is “when” to breathe or “how” to breathe. The standard recommendation is to inhale during the eccentric phase (EP) of the repetition and exhale during the concentric phase (CP) of the repetition. Not bad general advice, but when you are working with a beginner just getting them to inhale and exhale during strength training is a victory, period.
Making sure that one does not hold their breath, especially during maximal lifts, is critical. There may be some benefits to inhaling during the eccentric phase (EP) of a repetition and exhaling during the concentric phase (CP) during strength training, but I believe you have to address this before you put a weight in some one’s hand.
I often times begin with a “breathing test” to assess function of inspiration and expiration.
Short 1 minute 32 second video of a breathing test here…
(WOW! What a goofy still shot! lol)
I teach clients the importance of proper breathing patterns (more on this another time but activation of deep intrinsic stabilizers and relaxation of global musculature) and the drawing in maneuver.
NOT THE VACUUM POSE!
You can get fancy with alternating nostril breathing techniques and such..
..which is great, it just depends how thorough you want to be.
Just enough to get this to happen…
…and get these working together
Negative impact of not breathing? Well, yes, death…
…but increased arterial pressure (good old valsalva!) is a significant concern among the general fitness client and even amongst elite level power lifters and Olympic weightlifters performing max efforts lifts. So breathing consistently and comfortably are hugely important but the inhale on the EP and exhale on the CP may actually provide a better mechanical platform for us to produce force from and keep our spine and accessory structures (from discs to ribs).*for more on this see Chaitow and McConnell below…
We know that if we do not provide the necessary oxygen to working muscles, their performance will suffer. We also know that specific muscles can be conditioned…or deconditioned…so a deconditioned diaphragm may rob oxygen (Robin Hood Effect) from the larger muscles during athletic activity and negatively impact performance.
Breathing can be complicated when you peel back the layers.
I learned about four different types of breathing from Scott Sonnan
1) Normal volume(clavicular)-talking volume
2) Complementary volume (intercostal)-medium intensity exercise breathing
3) Supplementary volume (diaphragmatic)-high intensity level exhales
4) Residual (reserve)-which we have unless a lung is punctured or we expire
So..learn to breathe, learn to breathe while activating the core stabilizers and then learn to inhale during he Eccentric Phase and exhale during the Concentric Phase.
For some more reading on breathing…
By Leon Chaitow from Massage and Body Work Magazine. Click the link below
http://leonchaitow.com/PDFs/UnderstandingBreathing_MNB_JJ_07.pdf
More from Chaitow on breathing and back pain
http://leonchaitow.com/PDFs/pdfBackPainAndBreathing.pdf
Alison K McConnell, BSc, MSc, PhD, FACSM has a great piece on breathing and performance if you want to sink your teeth into something.
http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/breathing.php
Harms et al’s work “Effects of Respiratory Work on Exercise Performance” is worth the once over as well.
There are many other experts to read to deepen your understanding of a complex but seemingly simple subject, but I hope this helps!
Thanks for reading and watching!
Eric Beard
Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist
Corrective Exercise Specialist
theericbeard.blogspot.com
www.ericbeard.com