Are you breathing correctly?

Breathing is obviously such an important thing, if not the most, but chances there is room for improvement, its free! 

• Do you wake up with a dry mouth?
• Do you randomly gasp for breath?
• Do you find that you sometimes stop breathing for a few moments?
• Frequent throat infections?

So how are you ideally meant to breathe?

Through your nose. Yup, all the time. When you’re sleeping, when you’re exercising and everything in-between.

Why?

• Increased oxygen uptake into your blood – exercise,
• Increased first line defence for infection – your nose has a much stronger defence compared to your mouth making it harder for bacteria and viruses to infiltrate your body! 
• Lowers the anxiety response – A longer out breath will activate the para sympathetic realising calming you down.
• Decreases the use of upper ribs and muscles around the neck by activating the diaphragm. Explained in more detail below.

How this will affect your musculoskeletal system

Breathing deeply through the nose deactivates the muscles of your neck going down on to the upper ribs. As these are overworked and shortened they will pull your shoulders upward and forwards as well as pulling the head into an anterior position. This will tighten your upper back and increase the curve in your neck. This can lead to associated problems such as headaches, aching shoulders and upper back. Reducing these areas of your spine means that other areas have to adapt to make up of this lack of movement causing strain in lower places such as the lower back or shoulders.

Base score

Breathe in normally and then out, pinch your nose and count how many seconds it takes for you want to breathe – this could be the natural urge, or small contractions of the diaphragm or muscles around the throat. 

Under 25 seconds = room for improvement! 

Note: this doesn’t mean your unfit, top athletes can have scores of 10! 

Action! 

• Tape mouth when sleeping.

• Slow down when your exercising, changing the way you breathe is going to be hard to begin with when you are exercising, just try not to be too competitive with yourself, you will improve! 
• Use a breathing app to practise breathing out for longer and calming the sympathetic nervous system.
• Keep at it! Its not going to come naturally straight away, be patience.