Diaphragm Exercises Guide

Diaphragm Exercises

The diaphragm is a sheet of skeletal muscle which extends from across the bottom of the thoracic cavity. “The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity, containing the heart and lungs, from the abdominal cavity and performs an important function in respiration: as the diaphragm contracts, the volume of the thoracic cavity increases and air is drawn into the lungs.

”-Wikipedia. Like all muscles the diaphragm can be strengthened through exercise to improve both form and function. So why is the practice of “working out” your diaphragm not as common as say working on our biceps? Ideally we should actually pay more attention to taking care of this essential muscle as it is key in our breathing which is vital to our life existence.

• Without breath we cannot live, and without a functioning diaphragm we cannot breathe. Improving the function of your diaphragm will improve your breathing and as a result can have a tremendous impact on your quality of life.

• Additionally, all of our muscles work together. When one muscle is weaker we often over compensate by using another muscle which can lead to chronic pain. When the diaphragm is weak we often breathe from our chests instead of our bellies. Chest breathing results in shallower breath and as it activates the neck and shoulder muscles which should not be key movers in breathing it can also lead to neck and shoulder pain.

Strengthening the diaphragm and focusing on diaphragm engagement while breathing offers some key advantages;

1. Efficient gas exchange –Gas exchange takes place in the bottom third of our lungs. Which makes oxygenation more efficient when we activate our diaphragm.
2. As mentioned before chest breathing can lead to chronic neck and back pain. Breathing with the diaphragm eases the muscle tension in our shoulders and neck allowing them to relax.
3. Using the diaphragm to breath rebalances the autonomic nervous system and reduces the heart rate/breathing rate. It allows us to use the parasympathetic nervous system (calm and relaxed); as opposed to our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight).
4. Diaphragmatic breathing can aid digestion by massaging the abdominal organs and helping with lymphatic drainage. This is because a large portion of the lymphatic system is located directly below the diaphragm.
5. The diaphragm assists with good posture and core muscle strength. Overdeveloped abs and “waist trainers” can hinder proper movement of the diaphragm, and promote upper chest breathing.

• Strengthening the diaphragm is simple. Most diaphragmatic exercises use little or no equipment and can be performed anywhere with only a few minutes of your time.

• The Expand-A-Lung is a simple device that has a tremendous impact on strengthening the diaphragm. Because it uses variable resistance it maximizes your training time and makes your exercise more efficient and effective.

• Exercise instructions can be found here exercise instructions. Yogic breathing like the pranayama requires no equipment and may also be effective.

• This article from the Yoga Journal outlines benefits of Pranayama and how to practice this powerful breath . Another good way to promote diaphragmatic breathing is to lie on your back with your legs raised and bent at the knees forming a 90degree angle (you can prop your calves on a chair for support).

• Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Make sure that your belly is moving up and down as you breathe. This will re-set the way you think about breathing. Once you notice the difference of how you were breathing before to how you were breathing on your back focusing on the rise and fall of your belly and tune into that feeling.

Throughout the day as you stand, sit, move around take a moment to think “Am I breathing from my chest, or my belly?” make adjustments as needed and eventually breathing properly will become second nature. All of these exercises have excellent benefits and are not mutually exclusive why not give them all a try.