Monday Mobility – Breathe Your Way to Improved Mobility

Today’s Monday Mobility post is not immediately obvious as a mobility drill.

It looks and feels like a breathing drill.

And it is.

But bear with me.

Here’s the clip:

This clip shows us how to breathe deep into our belly or diaphragmatic breathing. What has this got to do with mobility?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

In the majority of cases, lack of mobility is simply down to unnecessary muscle tension. So by simply breathing deeper, we can help ourselves chill out and relax, both mentally and physically. We remove the tension and we immediately regain our mobility.

Magic!

Lets take our attention specifically to our shoulders, Traps and thoracic spine. These are all ares that many struggle with. Almost everyone I’ve ever worked with has at some point suffered with tightness in the traps, shoulder issues and most have terrible thoracic extension and rotation. A few poor bastards had all or the above at the same time!

All these symptoms are exacerbated by breathing into the chest as opposed to the diaphragm. Breathing into the chest doesn’t include the diaphragm, or at least minimises its contribution to the inhale. Which means we have to rely on the muscles up around the chest and shoulders. And if these are busy raising and lowering our ribs to breath, that means their not doing their prescribed job of maintaining posture. So if our scalenes are busy lifting the ribs, their role in supporting the head must be taken up by the upper traps and other muscles around the neck.

So is it any wonder the neck gets tight and tired? Which often leads to the head being held forwards. Which leads to the chest sinking. Which leads to the scapular winging. Which leads to compromised shoulder function & internal rotation of the arm. Which leads to …………. which leads to ……….

So my recommendation to you is to fix your breathing pattern. Be conscious of this breathing pattern as you move around and while you exercise. Be conscious of it as you sit at home or in the office.

It may just be the best mobility drill you’ve ever done!

Regards

Dave Hedges www.WG-Fit.com

#BellyBreathing #breathing #DiaphragmaticBreathing