Abdominal or thoracic breathing..... what's the difference?

Abdominal or thoracic breathing….. what’s the difference?

Abdominal breathing consists of inhaling to the bottom of the belly to expand it like a balloon, and exhaling to feel the waist tighten. Strictly abdominal breathing, without any movement of the chest, immobilizes the ribcage and mid-back. No chest movement = no ribcage movement. No ribcage movement = stiff thoracic spine.

Thoracic breathing is short, shallow breathing that relies on the accessory respiratory muscles and puts pressure on the neck and shoulders. When we’re anxious and stressed, our breathing becomes more shallow and trapped in the neck – particularly in a muscle called scalenes – the same muscle that helps support your cervical spine in an upright position. Continuous shallow breathing can stress this muscle and promote forward head syndrome, and when the scalenes are already tense, it can be difficult to get out of this vicious circle.

In Pilates, we aim for complete expansion of the ribcage – the ribs are attached at the front and back, and under the ribcage are the lungs. Like a balloon, the lungs expand in three dimensions. The same goes for your lungs. When we inhale, the ribs have to expand in ALL directions to accommodate. When the ribs are attached to the spine, the spine moves with your breath.

If a muscle is tight, for example the scalene, the muscles of the upper back are caught in shallow breathing. Preventing free movement of the ribcage can cause back pain and send breathing pressure to the pelvic floor.

How to improve your expansion

Lying on your back on your mat, knees bent and hip flexors supple, place your hands on your lower ribs – when you inhale, you want the ribcage to extend circumferentially in all directions, including the back of the body.

Imagine distributing breathing (and pressure) throughout the trunk. So, rather than being trapped in the ribcage and creating downward pressure on the pelvic floor, everything is distributed more evenly.

As you exhale, expel all the air and empty your lungs, doing so without closing the front of your body.

This 3D breathing not only creates movement where it was previously stuck, in the upper mid-back, but also mobilizes all segments of the body – you get movement in the chest – in front, on the sides and behind the ribs, releasing the back muscles and stretching. to the obliques, achieving contraction and release around the lower abdomen and harmonizing the pelvic floor and diaphragm to exploit the pressure function.