BREATHING PATTERNS DURING EXERCISE

Much dispute exists regarding breathing patterns during exercise. It is held

by some that inhaling on the descent and exhaling on the ascent is a
respectable way to lower the peak blood pressure during the repetition and
thus reduce the possibility of cerebrovascular accidents occurring during
exercise. Such counsel exposes a misunderstanding of the mechanisms
involved, overestimates the prospect of an exercise-related cerebrovascular
injury (an astoundingly scarce event), and undervalues the probability of an
orthopaedic injury, a much more common event. The Valsalva manoeuvre is
the accurate term for holding the breath against a shut glottis while pressure
is applied by the abdominal and thoracic musculature. When you inhale, your
diaphragm contracts and the size of your thoracic cavity increases. As air
moves into your now bigger lungs, pressure balances between the outside
and the inside. When you make an effort to hold your breath and tense your
trunk muscles, you generate a pressure gradient between the inside and the
outside. This pressure increases noticeably with the intensity of the squeeze.
Since your thoracic and abdominal cavities are alienated by solely your
diaphragm, abdominal pressure increases as well. The spinal vertebrae are
being maintained in the proper anatomical position by your back muscles.
This proper position is strengthened by static pressure diffused to the spine
across the fundamentally non-compressible innards of the abdominal cavity.
The collective efforts of increased lung (intra-thoracic) compression, intraabdominal pressure fashioned by abdominal muscle contraction, and spinal
erector contraction increases spinal stability during loading. The Valsalva
manoeuvre increases the capacity to yield this pressure and stability.
Exhalation during heavy labours thwarts the development of adequate
pressure to stabilise the spine and therefore invites a painful injury that may
linger for quite some time.123

1 Kilgore, Lon. Anatomy without a scalpel. Iowa Park, Tex.: Killustrated Books, 2010.
2 Rippetoe, Mark, and Stephani Elizabeth Bradford. Starting strength: basic barbell
training. Rev. 3rd ed. Wichita Falls, Tex.: Aasgaard Co., 2012.
3 Kurz, Thomas. Science of sports training: how to plan and control training for peak
performance. Island Pond, VT, U.S.A.: Stadion, 1991.

Bibliography

1. Kilgore,

Lon. Anatomy without a scalpel. Iowa Park, Tex.: Killustrated

Books, 2010.

2. Kurz,

Thomas. Science of sports training: how to plan and control

training for peak performance. Island Pond, VT, U.S.A.: Stadion, 1991.

3. Rippetoe, Mark, and Stephani Elizabeth Bradford. Starting strength:

basic barbell training. Rev. 3rd ed. Wichita Falls, Tex.: Aasgaard Co.,
2012.