Breathing is even more important when exercising or practising, and there have been cases of bronchial diseases being improved by simply changing the way you breathe, so today we’re going to take a look at two different breathing methods: diaphragmatic breathing and chest breathing.
Abdominal breathing
Let’s start with abdominal breathing.
It’s the counterpart to thoracic breathing, which is more of a rib cage exercise, and creates abdominal pressure during abdominal breathing.Breathing involves expanding the rib cage and contracting the diaphragm.
Diaphragmatic breathing is called diaphragmatic breathing and is defined as abdominal breathing because it creates abdominal pressure.
Diaphragmatic breathing is the counterpart of thoracic breathing, which is dominated by rib cage movement.Diaphragmatic breathing is commonly known as the primary breathing method used when lifting weights and is often used during strength training to protect the lower back through abdominal pressure.
It also involves the core muscles of the diaphragm, multifidus, transversus abdominis, and pelvic floor, and is characterised by drawing the diaphragm down to widen the rib cage.
Chest breathing
Thoracic diaphragmatic breathing is a breathing method used primarily in Pilates exercises and is often used when performing static exercises such as stretching.
It is characterised by contracting the muscles in the abdomen to create a smooth movement and using the intercostal muscles to expand the rib cage to both sides.
The abdominal contraction allows you to create smoother movements and is a very important breathing method not only in Pilates but also in yoga.
How to Abdominal breathe correctly
To breathe correctly, sit with your spine straight on the floor or in a chair, and place your hands on your stomach with a band or tie around your abdomen.
Inhale through your nose while pushing your abdomen out to the sides with the band or hands.
As you exhale, feel your abdomen come back together.
exhale through your nose as you feel your abdomen come back together.
It’s important to be careful not to tense your neck and shoulders at this point, or let your shoulders rise with it.
How to Chest breathe correctly
First, sit with your spine straight on the floor or in a chair in the same position.
Tie a band around your ribs under your chest or place your hands on top of your ribs.
Inhale through your nose while pushing your ribs out through the band or hands in both directions. Keep your abdomen tucked in as you do this.
Exhale through your nose as you feel your ribs come back together. It is very important that your shoulders do not rise with you.
Closing thoughts
Today, we’ve discussed what diaphragmatic breathing and chest breathing mean and how to do them correctly.
So which is better, diaphragmatic breathing or thoracic breathing?
The answer is that it’s best to choose the right breathing method for the situation!
On a day-to-day basis, we recommend that you choose the method that works best for you and use diaphragmatic breathing for strength training and thoracic breathing for sedentary activities.
Except when you’re doing an exercise that makes you feel out of breath when you’re out of breath. to avoid using your secondary respiratory muscles to avoid using the secondary respiratory muscles.
Thank you.