Hold Your Form, Not Your Breath

More and more frequently I am finding that a cue of “keep your core tight” elicits a response of simply holding your breath, not engaging the proper muscles. Clients of all skill levels typically have a hard time differentiating between proper muscle engagement and the faux core of holding your breath.

This poses a major problem for two reasons: False sense of stability and the positioning of your diaphragm. The false sense of stability is a problem because the purpose of engaging your core is either for stability or to train the muscles to be able to provide that stability, or both. If the muscles aren’t actually providing stability, then the main reason for doing the exercise isn’t achieved and therefore you aren’t getting what you need from the exercise. In short, the partial pressures within the cavities in the body will provide a stable wall to push against for the surrounding musculature. An example of this is trying to push something from the middle of the room versus if you have the wall at your back. When that stability is provided, the exercise becomes less strenuous and I don’t have to work as hard. Similar techniques have a place, but they are not functional. This not only doesn’t achieve what we want from the exercise, but can put the body in unsafe positions and train us to move improperly.

Who is this diaphragm and what does he do? The diaphragm is the muscle that is responsible for breathing, and has a lot of strong attachments to surrounding structures, such as the lumbar spine. Rib positioning is extremely important. Holding our breath with typically cause the ribs to flare up and out, causing a compensatory arch in the lower back due to the attachments with the diaphragm and encouraging a position in which the core doesn’t have to work. This again, teaches us to move improperly and negates the purpose of the exercise. The over-activity of the incorrect muscles is what causes people to get hurt. The diaphragm is being engaged correctly, but separation of diaphragm and core engagement is essential to performance and training.

Oh, and by the way breathing provides us with oxygen which we kind of need for exercise, and living in general. Listen to your coaches cues about breathing, and do your best when you are on your own to take control of your ribs and breathing and encourage proper core control. It Matters!