A quick
test, place your hand on your stomach and take a deep breath in. What movement
is there in your belly? Does it stay the same, expand or contract? More than
likely it would stay the same or have a slight contraction. But why, what is
wrong with that? What should be happening is as you take a breath of air the
diaphragm should contract and push down in the stomach cavity, this will push
your stomach out allowing a deep breath of air. As you exhale the diaphragm will
relax and the stomach will go back to the original
position.
Since the
discovery of the mirror the modern man has become very conscious of what he/she
looks like. To look better to ourselves (and the pretty ladies or lads in the
gym) we tend to hold your bellies in to instantly shed a few extra “mental”
pounds around the waist. With this happening we have evolved to breath wrong. It
is called chest breathing or shallow breathing.
If you look
at a baby when sleeping, the most natural form of human life unspoilt by the
modern world, how they are breathing. As the baby inhale you just see this
massive pot belly pushing out and as the baby exhales it flattens out again.
Now the
next question is what does this have to do with exercise? The answer is quite
simple and straight forward, EVERYTHING.
By doing
the right breathing you can teach your body to maximise your oxygen intake and,
what is almost the most important thing to me, to activate the core. The core’s
inner unit is very lazy and needs to be reminded on a regular basis that it
needs to activate and do some work.
By doing
proper core activation the training you do on the core will be more effective
and it will respond better to the exercises. You will see results a lot quicker
and you will be able to lift a lot more weight. Watch this space for more of
that.
Rule of
thumb when doing any weight bearing exercise, as you do the work you breath out,
again this will aid in core activation that will assist and protect you in the
strain under the weight.
Here is a
simple exercise for you to do. It will get you in the habit of using the
diaphragm for breathing, as you sit in the office at your desk, on the tube, in
your car or in front of the telly, force yourself to expand your stomach as you
take a deep breath and contract as you exhale out again. You can use your hand
and place it on your stomach to guide the movement.
In the
beginning this exercise will feel a bit forced, like anything you do for the
first time, it will become natural again.
