Breathing and Swimmers’ Posture

Dr. John mullen, DPT, CSCS

http://www.swimmingscience.net

Breathing is obviously important to swimming.  We’ve discussed breathing multiple times on this site with topics from breathing patterns, Armpit breathing, Swimmer’s Lung Capacity, and Inspiratory Muscle Fatigue.  Most recently, Dr. Mitch Lomax discussed his recent findings in this area noting that “[Inspiratory Muscle Fatigue]occurs during swimming, even in very well trained swimmers. It can negatively affect stroke characteristics, and has the potential to speed up the occurrence limb muscle fatigue. The good news is that we can do something about it.”

One concept that we’ve also addressed has been breathing’s effect on spinal mechanics.  Breathing is often overlooked as a movement pattern, but plays a vital role in shaping movement.  Virtually everything we do involves breathing, whether we realize it or not.  As Hodges (2001) notes, “[r]espiratory activity of the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles is normally coordinated with their other functions, such as for postural control of the trunk when the limbs move.”

Postural abnormalities such as kyphosis (hunchback) and lordosis (swayback) are commonly associated with shoulder and back problems in swimming.  It has been well established that hyperactive upper trapezius activity, shortness of the pectoralis minor, and weakness in the lower trapezius are linked to shoulder maladies and to thoracic kyphosis.  Given what we know about respiratory mechanics, might breathing be an avenue to effect change in this area?    

One study to explore the link between breathing, posture and movement involved swimmers.  Obayashi (2012) studied twenty six healthy swimmers evenly divided into an exercise group and a control group.  Authors sought to determine the effect that breathing exercises could have on spinal curvature of the thoracic and lumbar spines.  The exercise group performed respiratory muscle exercises ten minutes per day three times per week over four weeks.  The control group only performed their normal swim training.  Findings included:

• Significant a decrease in the thoracic kyphosis by 13.1% in the exercise group  (less hunchback)
• Lumbar lordosis reduced by 17.7%  in the exercise group (less swayback)
• Compared to the non-exercise group, the exercise group had 8.6% less thoracic curve and 20.9% less lumbar curvature than the control group
• forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1.0 s were significantly increased after four weeks in the exercise group

Authors offered the following explanation for their findings:

“[A]rise in intra-abdominal pressure presses the rib cage upward and effectively allows the extension of the thoracic vertebrae.  In addition, we attribute the decrease of thoracic curvatures to a stretching effect on the thorax. In a previous study, Izumizaki et al reported that thoracic capacity and rib-cage movement were changed by thixotropy, which is the exercise of maximal expiration from maximum inspiration. The stiffness of the rib cage leads to thoracic kyphosis.  In this study, repetitive deep breathing resolved the stiffness of the rib cage and straightened thoracic kyphosis. This process may be responsible for altering the spinal curvature.“

Similarly, we wrote last year, “The rib cage is more than a passive protector of internal organs and a mere puppet of respiration. Though it’s not a body part amenable to cueing in the water, better rib cage function can free the swimmer of restrictions. Most importantly, optimal rib cage function via breathing, posture, and movement can improve shoulder health.” (See, Forgotten Rib Cage)  In sum, consider not just the shoulder itself, but the structure and function of all areas around it.  Breathing is a key part of that consideration.     

CONCLUSION

The findings in this study make intuitive sense to anyone who observes breathing in a training environment.  Yet training the breath is often seen as a wasted activity more properly reserved for quiet meditation and not of sufficient importance for “serious” dryland training. 
Even if you don’t set aside time for breathing exercises, attention to respiratory mechanics should be a part of any dryland program to optimize spinal function and develop healthy shoulders.  Though more study is needed in this area, this research does lend support to the connection between respiration and shoulder mechanics in competitive swimmers.    

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REFERENCES

1. Hodges PW, Heijnen I, Gandevia SC.J Physiol. 2001 Dec 15;537(Pt 3):999-1008.
2. Postural activity of the diaphragm is reduced in humans when respiratory demand increases.
3. Ludewig PM, Reynolds JF.  The association of scapular kinematics and glenohumeral joint pathologies.  J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2009 Feb;39(2):90-104. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2009.2808.
4. Obayashi H, Urabe Y, Yamanaka Y, Okuma R.  J Sport Rehabil. 2012 Feb;21(1):63-8. Epub 2011 Nov 15.  Effects of respiratory-muscle exercise on spinal curvature.
5. Izumizaki M, Ohshima Y, Iwase M, Homma I. Chest wall motion after thixotropy conditioning of inspiratory muscles in healthy humans. J Physiol Sci. 2006;56:433–440.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Dr. John mullen, DPT, CSCS

Dr. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS world-renowned physical therapist and strength coach.

Why Not You?

by Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Today someone will make the decision to be great. Will it be you?

Over the couple of years that I have been writing for SwimSwam, USA Swimming and here on my own website I have received a significant amount of email from readers of my articles. Many of them seek advice, while others reach out to share stories about their own swimming journey.

In this heap of correspondence I have read stories of hope, of frustration, of success and of failure, but there is perhaps nothing that drives me to react more viscerally than a variation of the following:

“I have goal to win a medal at nationals but my teammates and parents don’t think I can do it.”

Look, I fully appreciate and understand the need to be moderately realistic with the goals you set. (When I was a kid I wanted to be a Transformer. That didn’t quite pan out.) But what I don’t understand is people telling someone that they can’t do something.

Tell them what it will take, sure, explain to them in gruesome detail all the work it will take to accomplish this goal, the superhuman commitment and dedication required to achieve superhuman feats in the pool, but to flat-out tell a swimmer they cannot do something they dream about makes my blood boil.

In replying to these emails I generally ask the swimmer a simple question: “Why not you?”

After all…

Today a swimmer will dare to dream a little bit bigger. Why not you?

The dedication and steps that are necessary to drop 3 seconds from your best time are the same that are required to drop 5 seconds. With high aspirations comes more effort, so why not stretch what you want to accomplish a little further?

Big dreams require more work. They require fearlessness to overcome the small thinking of those around you (and all too often yourself). And they require you to adjust what you think is possible.

In the words of Tom Hardy’s character Eames in the film Inception…

“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”

Today a swimmer will decide that they will make the full commitment necessary to achieve their goals. Why not you?

It can be frightening to go whole-heartedly after something you crave dearly. All sorts of doubts and fears plague you not only at the outset, but at every junction and step along the way. Setbacks and errors will be overly scrutinized, somehow symbolic of a greater conspiracy for you to not achieve big things.

Similarly, many swimmers hold themselves back because they don’t feel completely ready to charge forward, waiting for the moment that they are 100% prepared.

Opportunity and life does not wait for you.

If you sit around waiting for that fictionalized moment where the stars align, where things are just right, than you will not only be waiting a painfully long time, but the opportunities that are before you now will float by.

Today a swimmer will do it a little bit better than they did yesterday. Why not you?

Success in the pool, and any endeavor in life, is a result of making small gains, barely perceptible gains, those 1% improvements, consistently over the long haul.

When we watch others succeed in a grand, sudden moment of epicness we come to believe that this is how change is applied with our training as well; big, sweeping, dramatic moments of uprooting change.

In reality it’s not like that at all. It’s the constant application of making yourself a little bit better every time you jump into the pool. Bit by bit, inch by inch.

Today a swimmer will decide to have better habits in the pool. Why not you?

Our habits are the foundation of our swimming.

From whether or not we get up for early morning practice, to exercising good nutritional consumption, to maintaining technique when fatigued, the myriad of habits we have in the pool forms the swimmer that gets up on the blocks come meet time.

Our training habits can become such second-nature to the point that we don’t even think about them anymore.

Deciding to use this power of automaticity for the betterment of your swimming is the closest you will get to putting success on auto-pilot. When doing the tough thing, the hard thing, the right thing, becomes second nature those big scary goals will begin to crumble before you.

Today a swimmer will help others succeed. Why not you?

It’s understandable that as a high flying athlete you get caught up in your own swimming. You have a lot of things on your plate, after all.

Between the endless swim practices, cramming in work and school, and achieving the amount of sleep you need to perform your best and the bottomless eating to make this all possible, it is easy to lose sight of the passion you have for the sport.

An easy way to get back in touch with why you love the sport is by giving back.

• Spend a few minutes working with one of the youngsters on your team. (They look up to you more than you know.)
• Encourage a teammate that is having a tough workout.
• Be the one who steps up and makes the training environment one that is more enjoyable for everyone.

These things may seem trivial, but they can go a long way in not only deepening the passion you have for the sport, but also in developing a place for you and your teammates that fosters success.

In Closing

You were built to do some great stuff. Whether you do it or not is up to you. Not your swim coach, not your parents, not your friends.

Instead of looking at the swimmers around you doing big things with their swimming look in the mirror and ask, “Why not me?”

Next Up:

The Ultimate List of Workouts for Competitive Swimmers. Our ever-growing list of practices and sets for swimmers. Includes sets and workouts from Olympic gold medalists and some of the top coaches on the planet.

Practice is Everything. Seriously want to crush your goals in the pool this season? Start by giving your practices the attention they deserve.

How to Be a Better Swimmer In and Out of the Water

by Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Swimming teaches us a lot. Besides how to excel at Sharks & Minnows (still my favorite as a fullyish grown adult), the sport gifts us patience, discipline, and the ability to eat like dump truck.

Here are a few ways to level up your training in the pool that go beyond trying a new supplement or buying a new suit.

Best of all, they are things you should be able to apply to the time spent between workouts dealing with the “real world,” whatever that is.

Here we go!

Hey you, keep your commitments!

Are you dependable? Do you keep your word? When you say you’ll do something, do the people around you scoff and roll their eyes, or do they quietly nod, knowing your word is iron-clad?

Having integrity and keeping your commitments matters on two different levels.

You want to be the teammate that can be counted on. That will be there when training is toughest, that will work hard to represent for the team during championship season. Setting the bar high and setting a good example for teammates and the impressionable youngsters who, believe it or not, look up to you.

But having integrity is more than just being dependable in order to be a solid teammate.

If you say that you are going to do something, do you believe it?

Fulfilling the promises you lay out does a few powerful things. It reinforces whatever thoughts you have about your ability to perform. Either you keep your word, or you flake (“As usual,” you will tell yourself), rendering your commitments hollow.

Keep your commitments and get into the habit of finishing. Not only will you be more likely to get things done (bonus!), but you’ll grow to trust that you are capable.

Be engaged (not married, the other kind).

How many times have you crawled out of the water at the end of a long workout and thought to yourself, what did I just spend 90 minutes doing?

If this is happening even somewhat often, it’s time get more focused in practice.

To be honest, I can understand why we zone out during workout.

It tends to happen after you swim at a particular level for a while. You start to gap out more frequently. You’ve been so accustomed to what you are doing, the movements have become so habitual, to the specific technique, the pace, that your body literally goes on auto-pilot and your mind goes elsewhere.

To reminisce on last night’s episode of Brooklyn 99. On the essay that you are struggling to finish. The hilarious text you are going to fire back at your best friend after practice.

When you catch your mind slipping (or losing count for what seems like the fifteenth time that set), get back to basics:

• Make sure your hand entry is perfect.
• Do an extra dolphin kick off each wall.
• Breathe every four stroke to your weak side.

Swim with intention, and that way when you climb out of the pool you can look back knowing that you didn’t waste the meters or yards given to you that day.

Prod your comfort zone (gently, if necessary).

Our comfort zone is a funny thing. (Peculiar, not hilarious.)

We work hard to get to a specific level of conditioning. Once we get there, somewhat satisfied and totally comfortable, we linger for longer than is necessary instead of further pushing ourselves.

The simplest way to insure that you are always pushing yourself just a little bit?

Progression.

Do something a little bit better. A little bit longer. With slightly better technique.

Progress isn’t about crushing your personal best time each time you dive into the water. It’s about making the minor adjustments on a daily basis that insure our swimming is continually trending upward and onward.

Big successes come with little steps (steps on steps).

You don’t need me to tell you that the season for a competitive swimmer is a long haul. Once you get a certain level there isn’t really an off-season, a couple weeks, maybe a month break at the end of the summer.

Staying motivated and hungry for the duration of a full year or training is tough. There are valleys, peaks, bubbling streams and all sorts of other nature-like metaphors.

In order to sustain forward movement forget about the perfect swim. Or the perfect stretch of training.

Instead, view each day as a tiny opportunity to improve. To get just a tiny bit better.

In other words, fall in love with the repeated application of small wins.

The focus isn’t to drop 5 seconds off your 200 free at the end of the year. It’s to train a little bit better today.

Walk on deck with a goal (and with a car blowing up in the background like a total super bad-a**).

Each set and workout has benefits and targets in mind. What are they?

When you deeply understand the purpose of each rep, each set, each workout than you cannot help but be more invested in your training.

Decide what you are going to work on without coach having to emphasize it.

Choose to have deadly streamlines on all your push-offs. Make the decision to hold a specific breathing pattern. Resolve to hold a specific time for every repeat.

Put it all together

Training like a boss doesn’t have to be complicated. And it isn’t reserved for the top athletes in our sport. It simply requires that you are a little more mindful during practice.

(You are gonna be there anyway, so you may as well make the most of it!)

Train like a champ, and you will perform like one when you stand up on the blocks come race time.