Most people are not breathing diaphragmatically. Some studies estimate that up to 80% of the population is experiencing breathing dysfunction. Active people are not exempt – a recent study estimates that only 10% of athletes are diaphragmatic breathers. The implications are massive, and it’s not a problem that can be fixed with more cardio. It requires addressing breathing mechanics. Better breathing can mean…
1. Better core control
Respiratory proficiency is a necessary prerequisite for core efficiency and strength.
Read that again. You cannot have an optimally functioning core without the ability to fully expand and compress your ribcage. If you have tension in your back, shoulders, neck, and chest, this is an indication that your ribs are not moving, and airflow is not getting into your entire ribcage, front to back, side to side.
So where does the air go? Instead of ribcage expansion, the neck muscles turn on to lift the ribcage up, air goes into the belly, and pressure moves down on the pelvic floor instead of up into the ribcage. Breathing becomes rapid and shallow, and the tension in the back, shoulders, neck and chest is exacerbated.
When you are performing core exercises – especially anti-rotational ones like planks, it is important to be able to breathe into places that aren’t your belly. Otherwise, the belly expansion reduces the amount of core tone you can maintain, and can contribute to a bulging and doming of the abdominal muscles. This is an indication that pressure is not being managed well during exercise (or possibly ever), and over time, this can contribute to pelvic floor and core issues like diastasis recti, heaviness, leakage, and even prolapse.
2. Better lymphatic drainage
When your diaphragm is strong, and you are able to fully exhale without feeling like you are starving for air, your ribcage is able to fully expand 360° on inhalation and compress on exhalation. This push and pull of the muscles of your core and your diaphragm helps to pump lymph fluid around the body.
Dysfunctional breathing patterns contribute to tension in the upper extremities like the shoulder muscles, neck muscles, ribcage muscles, chest muscles and the diaphragm. This tension reduces drainage through the thoracic duct – the largest lymphatic duct that typically transports lymph from the body to veins. When lymph flow is compromised, so is everything else. It contributes to brain fog, poor energy, hormonal imbalances, bloating, chronic pain and joint stiffness, edema, headaches or migraines, immunity, and detoxification issues.
3. Better detoxification
Your body has 7 main pathways of detoxification: your liver, kidneys, colon, lymphatic system, glymphatic system, lungs, and skin. Diaphragmatic breathing has a direct and specific role in supporting all of them.
Liver:
Diaphragmatic breathing increases oxygen delivery to cells and vital organs like the liver, improving its ability to detoxify and carry out its 500+ functions.
Kidneys:
Improved CO2 balance from relaxed diaphragmatic breathing helps to maintain blood pH, which the kidneys are constantly regulating. Improved oxygenation and circulation also improves filtration rates.
Colon:
The rhythmic massage from the diaphragm stimulates gut movement, and parasympathetic nervous system activation (and CO2) supports the release and production of digestive enzymes.
Glymphatic/lymphatic:
Tension in the neck and chest from poor breathing patterns reduces clearance of waste from the brain through the glymphatic system – a pathway that is increasingly implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.
The lymphatic system does not have its own pump like the circulatory system has the heart. Instead, the diaphragm acts like a piston, moving lymph upward toward drainage points and creating space around the ribcage for free movement and drainage.
Lungs:
Diaphragmatic breathing increases lung capacity (one of the leading indicators of life expectancy) and gas exchange, improving clearance of waste gases through every inhale and exhale.
Skin:
Diaphragmatic breathing can improve circulation to the skin, temperature regulation, and can reduce stress-induced skin inflammation (which can impair detox via the skin).
4. Better rotation
Rotation is important for more than just sportsplay like golf, tennis, or baseball – it’s essential for every movement we do, like walking. The most foundational muscle fibers in your joints are laid rotationally. This means that rotation is the foundation of movement. If you can’t rotate, you can’t move. If you can’t rotate well, you can’t move well.
When you have a good resting posture, meaning your ribcage can move downwards and inwards towards your spine (and it’s not effortful for you to stay there), this creates space for your vertebrae to rotate. This also means less injuries from rotation-related sports like tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. If you can’t rotate well through your hips and ribcage, other joints like your knees, shoulders and elbows will have to pick up the slack.
5. Better HRV, better sleep
For those who use tech wear like apple watches, whoop bracelets, oura rings, and garmin watches, you might be familiar with the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) metric. A “potent predictor of physical morbidity and mortality,” greater heart rate variability indicates a greater ability of the autonomic nervous system to regulate itself (PMID 937234059). This means your nervous system can bounce from fight or flight (the mode you’re in when you’re completing a physically, mentally or emotionally demanding task) back to rest and digest (the mode you should be in when you’re eating and sleeping).
If you cannot downregulate automatically, unconsciously, and regularly, every system in your body will suffer. A good starting point is learning how to fully exhale. Every exhale you take, especially when long and complete, activates the parasympathetic (rest and digest mode) of your nervous system. If you ever feel like you’re having a hard time slowing down your breathing at night, or you notice snoring or a blocked nose, this is a glaring red flag that you need to learn how to breathe better.
6. Better digestion
Better breathing improves digestion in many ways. With every diaphragmatic inhale and exhale, the diaphragm indirectly massages the digestive tract. During exhalation, the heart rate slows and the digestive action of the gut increases. This improves motility, and reduces the risk of reflux.
Swallowing excess air (from mouth breathing, gulping, fast eating, or dysfunctional breathing patterns) leads to gas accumulation in the stomach. This can increase pressure on the esophageal sphincter, (the valve which separates your stomach and esophagus), which can weaken or relax the sphincter, allowing acid to reflux upwards more easily.
Poor breathing patterns also contribute to greater activation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight mode). In this state, digestion is deprioritized. Your body doesn’t need to worry about digesting food (especially harder to digest foods like protein and fats) when it’s in survival mode. Over time, stomach acid production also becomes deprioritized and erratic, and your ability to break down and absorb nutrients becomes compromised. This manifests as poor motility, fatigue, bloating after meals, and digestive conditions like IBS and IBD.
