There are entire books written on the subject of the mechanics of breathing, but in this short article I just want to focus on the primary muscles of inhalation so that you can get the most benefit in the shortest time possible.

You may have already learned that your diaphragm is your main breathing muscle, and that to breathe efficiently you need a strong diaphragm. 

Rib cage and diaphragm.

This is absolutely true, but it isn’t the whole truth. While it is important to strengthen your diaphragm, you also need to look at how you are using it as well as how you are using the other muscles of respiration. In addition, how mobile your rib cage is can have a dramatic impact on how well you breathe, particularly under load such as running hard or for a long time.

So when we look at the biomechanics of breathing, we really need to be looking at:

1. The muscles of inhalation
2. The muscles of exhalation
3. The skeletal components such as your rib cage
4. The integration and control of all of the above, and you ability to effectively use them under different conditions

Inhalation

Inhalation, or breathing in, involves several key muscles such as:

You can see from this table that there is a lot involved. You can also start to see why putting your focus on just the diaphragm isn’t going to cut it – you need to activate and use your entire ‘breathing cylinder’ as it allows more space for the lungs if the rib cage is lifted up and out in all directions.

When I work with both runners and non-runners on their breathing, they often struggle to activate some of the muscles above. If they can already activate some of them, they tend to be better on one side than the other. They almost always need to spend a bit of time learning how to create the brain-body connections so that they can begin to mobilise the rib cage and create some extra room.

One of the first exercises we do is an awareness exercise so you can determine how you are currently using your rib cage:

1. Stand or sit with your back straight, shoulders relaxed.
2. Place your hands around the base of your ribs.
3. Inhale slowly through your nose. Ideally, you feel your ribs expand out towards the front and sides. 
4. Repeat the exercise a number of times to get a good idea of how well you are activating the muscles that help your rib cage to expand.
5. Do you notice a difference between your right side and your left?

Now change the position of your hands so that they are half way up your rib cage and repeat the deep, slow inhalations. Do you feel your rib cage moving at this level?

Now move your hands to your upper ribs, just below your collar bones. Repeat the inhalations and observe how well your rib cage is moving.

If you can’t activate and move your ribs smoothly and pretty much symmetrically, then you have some practice to do. One way to do this is to spend 5 minutes or so a couple of times a day repeating the exercise above, putting your focus on activating the muscles involved.

The other way involves specifically activating the individual muscles using a technique called assisted contractile mapping, or tense/release. Unfortunately the explanation for this is beyond the scope of this article, but it is included in my breathing course for runners which will be launched very soon.

Have a go at rib cage expansion exercise above and in the next article we’ll look at the muscles of exhalation. 

Subscribe to my best tips and advice

 

Join my mailing list to receive advice, tips and special offers.

SUBSCRIBE!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

I will not sell or pass your data onto 3rd parties without your express permission. I will only use it for the purposes of sending you tips, advice and special offers about my products or services and those of specially selected partners. All emails will come from me (RunTeach). You can view my privacy policy here.