The Step by Step Process of Building a Strong and Functional Core
Beginning with our breathing patterns, this is the first of many posts on a step by step process for developing a high level of strength and function for our abdominals.
To Health Advocates—
Take a deep breath!
An observation through my years of one on one training is that people breathe differently. Not different in the sense that we are human and humans breathe in a unique way compared to other animals. Different in the sense that asking five people to take a deep breath may result in five different variations of breathing. Some chests will rise, some will expand, some bellies will expand, some people will use their mouth, while others will use their nose. Does every type have the same effect? Yes, and no.
This is an observation that I saw translate into movement and exercise ability. One of my jobs is to get people to move within the boundaries of what optimal form would be, so naturally this is an area of influence I explored. I work on the physical skill of breathing with my in-person clients, because it leads to better movement. After spending enough time working on the physical skill of breathing, it is hard not to notice the physiological changes that come with this practice. Today’s newsletter will start by exploring the physical component of breathing only, and its many benefits. Future newsletters will cover this topic again, as well as the physiological benefits to breathing and what changes we can expect to occur.
The way we breathe directly impacts the way a movement is being done. Why is that?
-The amount of respiratory muscles you are using per breath under different circumstances changes.
-The rate at which you are doing it recruits different muscles.
-Our breathing pattern in general, or in a moment, can physiologically alter the chemistry in our body.
-The way we breathe during sleep is different than the way we do it at max-work intensities. Think of that at two ends of a continuum with lots of variation in the middle.
-A weakness in the breathing musculature can impact our bodies in other ways: the mobility of our hips, backs, and vertebrea to name a few, plus our diaphragm plays a key role in moving lymphatic fluid through our body.
A recognizable example…
Say I walk into a room and want to stand up tall (as tall as 5’8” would allow), I puff out my chest and I converse with the other people around me. My rib cage is expanded, I’m primarily breathing through my mouth because I’m talking. If I do this pattern often, maybe out of instinct to have what I perceive as good posture, maybe out of insecurity of only being 5’8”. Regardless of the reason, over a period of time my interaction with breathing changes to this type of patterning because I’m in this environment often.
Now, on the flip side. I’m 5’8” and let’s say, an aspiring ballet dancer. I’ve learned over the years of professional coaching to pull my belly button in, keep my rib cage connected to my abdominals, and to slightly elevate and retract my shoulders. I maintain this posture while moving often, and it is treated as somewhat of a home base for me. My interaction with breathing is now very different than the example above.
Why does this matter?
For today’s newsletter, which is exploring the physical benefits, this matters because understanding this relationship can help improve your movement and its many components: strength, balance, flexibility, pain management, etc. After all, your core, and all respiratory muscles are a working component during any exercise, fitness modality, and during normal day to day functioning. It stands to reason that this should be an area of consideration when trying to impact human movement and our health.
This is a complicated topic that I am passionate about as it has helped me and many others. Over weeks, and months I will come back to it (not always on consecutive weeks) and try to keep it brief, as to not let these become long chapters in a book. I hope you enjoy this week!
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Beginning with the Basics
During rest/sleep our muscles are relaxed for the most part, maybe outside of a little twitching and readjusting. During rest, on an inhale, our diaphragm levels out and our bellies (should) rise, a little. It’s shallow, and ideally slowed down. This is within the boundaries of “normal,” as it would be described in a physiology textbook.
If we were awake, but laying down or in a resting position and someone gave us a cue to either take a big belly breath, or take a diaphragmatic breath, they would be referencing the same breath from above, but a deeper version of that. When we inhale our diaphragm would level out even more, and our belly would (should) expand with no resistance from any other muscle. For reference:
Moving Past Resting Positions
Now, we covered a breathing pattern during sleep for what would be considered “normal,” and we covered a common cue we are used to hearing and what “should” happen. During the two examples given above, we weren’t really moving and we would be mostly breathing in a parasympathetic state, meaning our nervous system should not be perceiving much stress and our body is relaxed. Our brain is also signaling at these times that things are mostly relaxed and calm. Now what happens at the other end of the spectrum?
If the two examples above were one end of a continuum, and on the other end is extreme stress, acute or chronic, let’s see what that looks like.
If we were sleeping in the middle of the night, and we heard our front door cracked open, our body would shift from its parasympathetic state to its sympathetic state. One of the first things that would happen would be a shift in our working breathing physiology. The muscles of our rib cage, like the external intercostals, SCM, scalenes, and pec minor would flex to lift and elevate our rib cage. As a result our body would have an easy path to speeding up our respiratory rate and help us respond to the noise accordingly. In this expanded rib cage position, our diaphragm is stretched even more. This is how the physical changes of our body help us impact the physiological changes of our body. Our rib cage expanding with little resistance, helps stimulate the fight or flight response. As a result, the chemistry of our body would start to follow. Examples:
Respiration rate increases and our body shifts from a resting metabolic state to its active metabolic state. This could* mean a shift away from fat burning ketosis and into a full on carbohydrate burning glycolysis.
Our blood lactate levels could* start to elevate just like they would during moderate or intense bouts of exercise. A byproduct of this process would be a more acidic environment for our body. A recovery period from this type of stress would be necessary. That could be minutes to hours to days, depending on the stimuli and how long.
(*The reason “could” or “should” is so often starred: humans are different from each other. Would a very physically well-trained person have the same reaction to a burglar as someone who sits mostly all day? Not sure, maybe a lesser version of the same response. Even more predictable, would a Navy SEAL have the same response as I do under the same circumstances. Most definitely not. In physiology classes, for the most part, they teach you what happens. It’s too complicated to discuss what happens per person in every circumstance. I like to hint to the degrees of variance as to not speak in absolutes. Humans are not absolute.)
Now, remember the examples I give in the intro? Myself, with a puffed up chest always having to be “on” to entertain people and talk to business associates? What I’m saying is we can put ourself in these altered states, or hybrid versions of them on accident, with our character tendencies. This changes the way we build muscle when we exercise because muscles of our torso that are not meant to be flexed all the time, are now flexed. Additionally, muscles we are trying to strengthen (the purpose of the post) are now lengthened and in a less advantageous position. Also, what does our body think if we are halfway in between the fight or flight response on accident? Should it stimulate the response, or do we sort of live in this in between place? If I constantly am walking around with a puffed out chest and talking for work, do I actually go into a true resting state when I sleep at night? Im physically telling my body not to, but physiologically telling it to. I’m now “graying” an area that should be more black and white.
Exercises and the Fight or Flight Response
Understanding this concept on a basic level helps us with a number of things:
Train the anatomy of our stomach in a functional way
Develop whole body strength and muscle using our core as the anchor it is meant to be
Develop excellent phsyiological function for our resting state and fight or flight response
If the resting state and fight or flight is a continuum, we obviously want to signal to our body that we are mostly in the resting state
Have the ability to destress ourselves when life gets overwhelming
Improve sleep
Improve recovery
Improve motor control and movement
Posture is debated in a professional setting, but a strong core allows us to explore our posture with more effectiveness
Core training and respiration is an underlying mechanism of all movement and function. Developing this from the ground up will improve all areas of life and be impactful for our physical goal as well as life goals. From a physical standpoint the reason for a strong core is obvious: function, vanity, improved movement with low risk; but as you can see, our physical state starts to have an impact on our physiological state. In order to make clear, level-headed decisions day after day, or have the ability to destress and not make emotional decisions, we need to be able to bring ourself back to its resting state. To have strong bouts of sleep that enhance recovery and our mental health, we need to partially understand respiration, which means understanding the core. The physical side of core and respiratory training goes hand in hand with the physiological side.
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My purpose for today’s newsletter was to finish with a video demonstrating entry level core exercises and give you a formula for something you can repeat daily or do before your other workouts. This can be a foundation you put in place as a standalone training session, a morning routine, or a pre-workout routine. This will now be next week, as today’s newsletter ended up being a bit lengthy. I will also link all core training to the home page once multiple posts are in place, so they can be easily navigated to. Thank you again and have a great week!
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