Take A Deep Breath
‘I asked Ferrari if Armstrong represents some peak of human performance.
“No.”, he said quickly. “ I don’t think so.”
I did a double take. Really? Armstrong is not the peak?
“There are many more parameters to explore,” he explained, but turned cryptic when I asked what they were.
“I am looking into the area of breathing,” he said. “Like with scuba divers or yogis. I think this is an area that might have potential, to achiever greater oxygenation of the blood. Naturally, of course.” ….
I was still stuck on the idea that it would be possible for a cyclist to be far better than Armstrong.
“Yes, yes, for sure.” Ferrari repeated. “We are nowhere near the ceiling.”’
Dr. Michele Ferrari, Lance Armstrong’s trainer, as quoted in conversation with Daniel Coyle in Lance Armstrong’s War. p.124.
A week’s vacation in Nags Head is a great place to relax, breathe deeply, and catch up on some reading. I took along a couple of books, the new book on Lance (noted above) and a textbook by Stuart McGill, PhD, one of the top biomechanics researchers on spinal disorders. The latter is not everybody’s pick for beach reading, but I admit to being a geek. While breathing in ocean air after my morning rides, I was struck by a recurring theme.
Dr. McGill’s book contained some interesting new research and ideas relating breathing to spine stability. One of the interesting findings in people with back pain is the inability to maintain spine stability when they performed stabilization drills while breathing heavily.
This research raised interesting questions for me. If the ability to breath without compromising stability is important for health, how can we tie that into better mechanics of breathing for performance? If, as Dr. Ferrari seems to suggest, there is improvement to be gained in oxygen exchange, then it would seemed appropriate to study the basic mechanics of breathing and stability first. The logical goal would be to gain a foundation of skills and awareness that could be used for exercises and gaining insight into breathing techniques that could improve the oxygen exchange process. The oxygen exchange topic will be explored in a future article, some basic breathing concepts are introduced here.
To inhale with force, the diaphragm and muscles between the ribs must contract. To exhale forcefully, the abdominal muscles and other muscles between the ribs contract. The diaphragm is shown in the accompanying pictures. It has a unique dome shape, and attaches to the lower ribs and lumbar spine. Study of the diaphragm’s attachments suggests that if the diaphragm is held rigid, it could provide stability between the spine and upper torso. However, this would obviously have a detrimental impact on breathing performance.
There seems to be a large amount of discussion in exercise about what is the core and what stabilizes the spine, but not as much about the muscles used for breathing. The fact that Dr. McGill & other’s research shows that an impact on stability is often seen with heavy breathing suggests that we may be inappropriately restricting the breathing muscles when performing core strength exercise in an attempt to create the desired stability. The same abdominal muscles that we are commonly instructed to hold tight during core exercises are actually required to expand and contract to achieve maximum breathing efficiency. If we are holding the breath and not moving the diaphragm during core exercise, the implications for poor control during aerobic events is even worse.
Another interesting fact from McGill’s book is that spinal stability can be increased with the internal pressure of maximal inhalation. During maximal inhalation, the diaphragm is contracting downward and the abdominal muscles bulge outward (not ‘suck it in’ to the spine). Maximal spinal stability is achieved when the abdominal obliques engage to initiate exhalation from this expanded position of full inhalation. Dr. McGill suggests that functional spinal stability for athletic performance or heavy work conditions cannot be achieved until one has mastered the ability to separate heavy respiration from the muscle patterns used for core stabilization. This month’s Core Corner contains a basic exercise idea that incorporates this concept. This idea also questions the efficacy of a body building routine that suggest always inhaling or exhaling with a certain portion of a lift. Training the body to be reliant on one specific pattern may not have functional carryover into athletic activities requiring elevated heart rate and respiration. A deep breath with proper control can enhance your strength; so don’t be afraid to let the diaphragm work and the torso and belly expand.
Tags: breathing
