Breathing 101? I’ve been breathing since day 1, I think I’ve gotten this whole breathing thing down. Breathe in, breathe out, repeat. What else is there?

A lot of different factors led to this post. One – May is National Posture Month! Studies show that poor posture can decrease your lung capacity by up to 30%. Also breathing improperly can lead to other musculoskeletal issues that you may not even realize are a result of poor breathing mechanics.

I always like the saying “good posture is its own reward.” Being able to use your full lung capacity is always a plus! Being able to use it correctly is also helpful!

Time to dig into some anatomy. Check out the image below of all the muscles that are involved in breathing!

The diaphragm is that big huge pink colored muscle in the bottom of the picture. Ideally it does most of the work for breathing. That makes sense, it’s a big muscle, and it covers the whole bottom surface of the lungs. Using the diaphragm to breathe, pulls down on the bottom part of the lungs pulling air into the lungs.

The purple muscles at the top of the picture, the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and scalenes, are the accessory muscles of respiration. They are supposed to be used during times of increased demand like fight or flight. If you start relying on these muscles all the time instead of just those high need times, those small muscles will start to fatigue and can cause other problems. When the scalenes get over used and are too tight, they can start irritating the nerves that travel near them. One potential side effect is thoracic outlet syndrome. When the sternocleidomastoid muscle is over used, you can develop trigger points (knots) that can occasionally refer pain to different areas of your head. The image below is an example of the referred pain some people experience from trigger points in the sternocleidomastoid.

So now that we’ve covered why you should work on diaphragmatic breathing, let’s get in to the HOW! Dr. Emily feels that the easiest place to start is laying on the floor with a hand over your chest and a hand over your stomach. Then you just breathe. While you are breathing, focus on keeping the hand on your chest still, and drawing in the breath from your belly. Then you can think of tightening your stomach muscles as you exhale.

Dr. Emily feels that the easiest way to start incorporating these breathing exercises into your life are first thing in the morning and the last thing before you go to bed at night. Lay in bed and practice breathing for 5-10 minutes in the morning and the evening. As you get better at this, you can practice while sitting, too. To perform these exercises while sitting, you put your hands on your chest and belly, and practice breathing keeping your chest still. You slowly increase the amount of times practicing your breathing, and eventually it will become your norm.

Happy breathing!

Workouts and training sessions are important, but recovery is just as important. If you don't take care of your body post training session, you'll be more prone to injury. No one likes getting hurt!

Here are the 3 things that Dr. Emily thinks are key tools for muscle homework:

The Stick
Lacrosse ball
Water

The stick is great for rolling out muscles. Rolling out muscles? What does that mean? Rolling out muscles is a way to elongate your muscle fibers. It helps to work on muscle trigger points (muscle knots/kinks), too. This helps to keep the muscle fibers relaxed, happy, and functioning optimally. Dr. Emily also recommends foam rolling, but the stick is nice because it is smaller and easy to stash in your briefcase/backpack/large purse. This means you can easily pack it to take care of those sore muscles during some down time in the office. Reading emails in the office? You can use the stick on your leg muscles. Here are some tips on how to use The Stick on your muscles.

The Stick is great for broad muscle relief, but sometimes you just have that spot that hurts deeper that the stick can't get. That's where the lacrosse ball comes into play. Dr. Emily likes using the lacrosse to roll out the bottoms of her feet. To do this, just place the lacrosse ball under your foot (like below), and move your foot back and forth on top of the ball.

You can also use this on the sore spots in your legs or gluteal region. Find those sore spots rolling on top of the ball, and just hang out on them. Let your muscles just release and relax on top of the ball. Don't neglect your upper body, too!

Lastly, don't forget to hydrate! It's easy to remember to drink water after exercise, but after working out the muscles with The Stick or a lacrosse ball, you also need to hydrate. Drink a lot of water to help flush out the muscles.