If breathing affects all the physiological processes outlined in the previous article, then breathing can absolutely affect performance in skilled sports.
Don’t believe it? Let’s look at two more points:
Recently, a study demonstrated healthy individuals experienced increased sway in static stance after acute hyperventilation. This means that even when people without any type of injury or motor control pattern problems exhaled repeatedly until hyperventilation was achieved, they experienced decreased balance in their resting stance. If the effects were experienced in resting stance, imagine the effects in a dynamic (moving) sport.
Also, another study found that after 60 seconds of increased pH from hyperventilation, subjects experienced reduced or eliminated transversus abdominis and diaphragm activation levels, which means less core stability around the spine during movements that involve labored breathing and heavy loads/high exertion.
Let’s make up a scenario within the “Crossfit” realm:
There are two athletes who are equally conditioned in every aspect, and they are about to go head-to-head through the first workout of the Crossfit Games…
The metcon (metabolic conditioning) involves a ton of snatches and box jumps (in honor of 17.1), followed by a heavy snatch ladder to close out the workout, where the athletes will be scored on the best successful lift in the time remaining.
Athlete 1-
As the athlete approaches the snatch ladder, he’s winded and is breathing uncontrollably. His back feels tight, his muscles aren’t cooperating, and people can hear him breathing from the next town over.
Athlete 2-
Obviously, the athlete is gassed as well, but continues to monitor his breathing. He takes deeper, more diaphragmatic breaths, and gathers himself before approaching the snatch ladder. He feels tired but capable as he sets up for his first lift within the ladder.
It’s not hard to figure out that Athlete 2 would be at an advantage here, but regardless of who might edge it out in this scenario, I have to say that Athlete 2 will have a decreased likelihood of getting injured under heavy load. His sympathetic nervous system is definitely cranking from the competition, but it’s within control, so he’s limiting the anxiety, tightness, muscular fatigue, and deficits in motor control he could be experiencing if he were breathing more uncontrollably. With this approach, even in circumstances where he has to move under heavy load with fatigue, he’s giving himself a better chance to call upon proper movement patterns to hit a successful lift.
So while I could never say that it will definitely be the difference in winning or losing, I can say that it will help to tilt the scales toward movement efficiency.
This isn’t even factoring in the ability of breathing to improve recovery time. In a sport like Crossfit, simply winning one event will not put you on the podium, you have to recover and repeat. Athletes will not recover with a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system that is dropping down trigger points, causing increased pain signals, and decreasing oxygenation to muscles that are begging to recover.
Hopefully these articles are opening your eyes to the possible implications of breathing within not only the performance realm, but for daily movement efficiency.
Breathe well,
Tyler
CSCS SPT
Owner Pathology Apparel
Resources:
Chaitow L. Breathing pattern disorders, motor control, and low back pain. Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. 2004;7(1):33-40.
https://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.png00Tyler Vaughnhttps://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.pngTyler Vaughn2017-02-28 05:34:522017-03-01 02:22:26(2) Breathing and Crossfit (The Application)
First, some fun facts I’ve researched to get the conversation going:
1-smooth muscle is present in connective tissue (three layers around muscle fibers, and appears in discs, lumbar fascia, etc.)
2-smooth muscle is largely affected by the Central Nervous System and the sympathetic/parasympathetic relationship
3-the sympathetic nervous system is largely affected by breathing rate
Deeper, slower breathing up-regulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases muscular tone, and faster breathing tends to up-regulate our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system, which creates increased muscular tone. While increased tone can be a solid survival mechanism when your life is on the line, it can also decrease motor control and movement efficiency (your brain isn’t concerned with efficiency of movement when it perceives that you are being chased by a bear, it’s just concerned with moving). When we get cold, we tend to increase our breathing rate, and this makes our muscles more rigid, decreases our motor control, and constricts our blood vessels to preserve heat and blood for our major organs (think about the last time you tried to type out a text message when you were watching a football game outdoors in November).
1-Hyperventilation occurs with rapid breathing, as large amounts of carbon dioxide are blown off from the body.
2-Hyperventilation is known to disrupt the flow of oxygen to muscles via the body’s mechanism of passive o2 transfer from hemoglobin to muscle tissues (which relies on a specific pH environment).
3-Normally, muscles release carbon dioxide (and lactic acid depending on the physiological system in use) when active, which creates a more acidic environment where hemoglobin is more likely to dump off extra (up to 10% more) oxygen molecules to keep them functional.
So, if pH increases in the blood (becomes more basic due to breathing off carbon dioxide), and hemoglobin hangs on to oxygen and won’t allow its passage to the muscle tissue, then rapid, uncontrolled breathing translates into increased fatigue and decreased efficiency of function.
Hyperventilation can cause not only muscle constriction and decreased blood flow to the muscles (and brain), it can also cause increased anxiety, encouragement of trigger points, heightened pain perception, increased speed of spinal reflexes, and hyper-excitability of the corticospinal tract (motor control to the body and limbs). While a few of these traits could be useful depending on the circumstances, if you are remaining in a hyperventilatory state, they could be a major problem, especially if you are moving under repetitive load, or trying to complete fine motor movements such as throwing a baseball).
Next post, we will have a short application to performance that will build off of the article you just read!
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know!
Blessings,
Tyler
CSCS SPT
Owner Pathology Apparel
Resources:
Chaitow L. Breathing pattern disorders, motor control, and low back pain. Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. 2004;7(1):33-40.
McGill SM. Low back exercises: prescription for the healthy back and when recovering from injury. In: Resources Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 3rd ed. Indianapolis, Ind: American College of Sports Medicine. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1998.
https://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.png00Tyler Vaughnhttps://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.pngTyler Vaughn2017-01-07 20:20:152017-01-07 20:25:42The Pros and Cons of Cryotherapy
“Push those knees out…” This cue has almost become as commonplace as any within the crossfit community. So, if everyone is saying it, it must be right…right?
First and foremost, let me preclude this short article by saying that I am not an expert in olympic lifting instruction. To be an expert, I’d need thousands upon thousands of hours of experience, whether coaching or competing (or some combination of both). What I have is a few solid years of experience and a love to crunch on technique and learn new ways to improve my technical and functional movements. If you want to hammer down on some Olympic lifting form and technique, go check out www.catalystathletics.com. Greg Everett has been a great resource for all things Oly, and I’ve enjoyed learning from his articles and quality info over the last few years.
With all that being said, I can say that I have a solid background in anatomy, biomechanics, kinesiology, and functional movement execution (thanks to the opportunity to sink my teeth into PT school starting two years ago). If you want to start talking about deficiencies in movement patterns and the problems they might cause, then I’d love to chat.
Back to the knees out epidemic…
First and foremost, one coaching cue cannot possibly be the best option for everyone. The faster coaches accept this, the more quickly they can become more dynamic in progressing their athletes (or patients). Mentally and physically, each person responds differently to different cues. Observing problems with how people move is not often the most difficult part of the coaching process; the difficulty comes in figuring out the best drill or cue to allow the athlete or patient to fix it.
So, how did the knees out cue come to be?
The leading thought behind the cue is that if the athlete pushes their knees out during the entirety of the squat, it will largely eliminate the propensity to dive into a valgus position (knee collapse), which is detrimental to the athlete’s performance and knee health. Keeping the knees out will theoretically ensure that the glutes are engaged, the posterior chain is active, and the athlete will produce more hip drive out of the bottom of the squat. Applied to the pull phase of some of the major Olympic lifts (snatch and clean), this outward knee position is preached to improve the stretch reflex in the hamstrings and allow for a more explosive vertical movement of the barbell (#moreweight).
So why is this a problem?
Foot in Full Contact with the Floor with External Rotation at Hip/Knee, Stable, with Full Tension and Activation of Post Chain
Hanging on the Lateral Part of the Foot with Forced Knees Out, Tracking Outside of the Feet, and Losing Tension in Post Chain
With this massive emphasis on knees out, I have begun to see a large number of athletes (in daily WODS, at competitions, etc.) that are hanging on the outside of their feet. If you are looking to produce maximum force, there is absolutely no way that the medial aspect of your foot should be leaving the ground. When this happens, you’ll lose dorsiflexion at the ankle and increase stress on the hip to reach full depth in your squat, decrease the ability to load your posterior chain in oly lifts, and decrease the surface area to transfer force in all lifts. Rather than dynamically using the full foot and a solid base, people are dumping power at the foot and ankle. These lifts hinge on a solid base, and by using only the outer half of the foot, it’s like building a pyramid backwards. I’ve never seen a small forward take off to dunk a basketball or a short-stop set up to make a defensive play with the medial half of their feet off the ground, and there’s a reason for it-it’s not athletic.
A better cue in most instances might be to “screw the feet into the ground.” By focusing on this external rotation movement rather than “knees out,” many athletes can better understand and build motor control in turning on the posterior chain and externally rotating the tibia, while also maintaining dynamic stability in the ankle with the whole foot on the ground. The knee simply needs to track over the feet, not further out than that. Therefore, when this cue is understood, the athlete will still decrease the dreaded knee collapse, while also ensuring a proper base and foundation to generate torque at the hip.
The difference can look pretty subtle, but coming from someone who has worked through this problem personally, it makes a major difference. If the “knees out” cue works for you, then continue to focus on it; however, if it is causing some bad positioning in the feet, try to focus on externally rotating each lower extremity with the feet staying flat on the ground and see how it feels. You may find that you feel not only much more stable, but also much more powerful as well.
Regardless, coaches need to be much more aware that technique can be largely effected by not only anatomy and training background, but also coaching cues as well.
There is no cookie cutter technique, and there is no cookie cutter cue to that will fix every athlete’s problems.
Keep your whole foot on the ground, allow those knees to track over the feet, and knock down a new personal record. Don’t sacrifice your force generation by trying to achieve some mythical over-exaggerated knee-out position because it’s become a new catch phrase in the fitness community.
I would learn to generate some discussions or feedback! Feel free to post or contact us with your own pictures or ideas. We love to hear and discuss new ideology and theories! It’s all a learning process… #studentfirst
One of the most interesting concepts to me within the realm of “movement” is that some of the smallest and most simple exercises can be so much more beneficial in certain cases than other larger, more complex movements. I think it is fair to say that many individuals from the general public have the misconception that more complex movements are better and more beneficial to the body. We’ve all seen the video posts of people who are trying to achieve this end (aka doing overhead squats on balance boards). The reality is that in many cases, slower, more controlled movements could be more beneficial to clean up bad motor patterns or impairments. With all that being said, one of my favorite “simple” movements is the “birddog.” I put it in quotes because this exercise has taken me quite a bit of time and training to master (and there’s always more to learn), but has been largely beneficial in injury prevention within my daily training regimen.
So, what is a “birddog?”
It is one of the exercises included in Stuart McGill’s (an expert in spine function and rehabilitation) “big three” for lumbar spine stability.
The exercise basically involves starting out with your hands and knees on the floor. The knees should be below the hip, and the hands should be below the shoulder, with the back of the head, spine, and sacrum (tail bone) all in a fairly straight line. After setting up in this position, the progression involves the following:
Un-weighted, Progressing to (Lightly) Weighted:
1) Flexing one shoulder or one leg at a time while keeping the elbow extended until the arm is parallel with the spine.
2) Flexing one arm and the opposite leg while keeping the arm and leg in line with the spine.
-Fight the urge to allow your low back to sag to help with getting to the pointing position.
-I like to cue keeping the eyes straight down on the floor below you to prevent the excessive extension of the cervical spine that results when looking forward.
-Adding a dowel rod and encouraging 3 contact points at the back of the head, mid-back, and top of the sacrum can be a good tactile cue to maintain lumbar spine position.
-Think about reaching forward and kicking back rather than reaching or kicking up to prevent hyperextension of the spine.
-Try to limit to any motion side-to-side.
-Rather than increasing hold time, think about slowly building the rep and set numbers to increase endurance. The McGill link attached below recommends holding each pointing position for no more than 7-8 seconds due to rapid deterioration of available oxygen within the muscles of the lumbar spine (rapid fatigue).
Once this is achieved in an un-weighted manner, weight can be added in each hand to increase the difficulty of the task. A few more keys here are to cycle through two or three breaths while each arm is parallel with the spine, focusing on maintaining proper pelvic alignment, as well as a neutral position within the cervical spine.
Attached below is a clip of Eric Cressey from www.cresseyperformance.com introducing the birddog.
So how can something this simple be so beneficial?
It teaches control of the hips vs. the lumbar spine.
-Many people (athletes especially) are unaware of their lumbar spine and pelvic positioning throughout movement patterns, often leading to increased anterior pelvic tilt and low back pain. This exercise allows for a specific focus to be placed on what pelvic “neutral” really feels like, and the muscle coordination needed to maintain it (which is the most stable position for the spine). As one arm or one arm and the opposite leg are raised, the patient or athlete must actively resist allowing the lumbar spine to sag into a hyper-extended position to achieve a successful repetition.
It teaches you how to breathe while maintaining proper core activation/trains anti-rotational muscle groups within the trunk.
-Take a second to try this exercise moving at your own speed. Now, try it again moving much slower while allowing yourself to cycle through up to three full breaths when one of your arms and legs are parallel with the spine. I’m sure the second option was much more difficult. When you can’t rely on the intra-abdominal pressure created by holding your breath, you will feel a huge difference in the muscle activation requirements and resulting fatigue around the spine. Moving through this exercise will allow you to work on the muscle activation and endurance of these anti-rotation muscles and local stabilizers of the spine throughout each set, which will undeniably help with injury prevention in your sport or daily life.
It encourages lower trap activation along with a large majority of the stabilizers within your shoulders (rotator cuff).
-Moving the shoulder into flexion like you are reaching forward in the birddog position encourages muscle activation and strengthening within the rotator cuff muscles. There is a long lever arm where gravity is working against your either unweighted or lightly weighted hand. In order to achieve the desired flexed or pointing position, the lower traps have to get engaged to upwardly rotate the shoulder blade as well. Therefore, this exercise is useful for building endurance and proper motor control in the rotator cuff as well as in the pelvis and lumbar spine.
It affords the opportunity to work on activating the glute (butt) muscles in cases where the hamstrings are typically more dominant.
-People often struggle to involve the glutes in the extension of the leg. These recruitment issues often lead to increased joint shearing in the hip as the hamstring causes more translation of the femoral head within the acetabulum (head of the leg bone within the hip joint).
Slow and controlled movements have been proven to be more beneficial when trying to build motor control (your brain’s ability to fine-tune and program efficient movement patterns in the muscles through the communication lines that are the nervous system).
-While we often want to push the pedal down and move as quickly and with as heavy of a weight as possible, research has demonstrated that slow and controlled repetitions are more effective in establishing functional motor control.
As a patient or athlete gains more awareness and control of the pelvis and the lumbar spine through active bracing and more efficient movement patterns, the spine will be at less risk for injury. While one exercise cannot be perfect for everyone, this is one exercise that is definitely worth a further study. As you go about completing your olympic weightlifting program, daily WODs, or even your cardio/endurance routine, consider adding in a few un-weighted sets of birddogs 3-5 times a week and see how your body responds. You may find that the next time you max on your clean and jerk or try to PR your 5K, that you experience a lot less back pain from falling into an overarched and instable position.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us or provide your feedback.
https://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.png00Tyler Vaughnhttps://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.pngTyler Vaughn2016-10-31 21:52:392016-10-31 21:57:22The Beauty of a Birddog
There’s been plenty of debate over the physiological pros and cons of the Crossfit training environment (we may touch on that more on another day); but what about the social or psychological side of being a member of a gym, or box? I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight first some pros and then some cons that I’ve both heard about and witnessed for myself through my 3-4 year (off and on) Crossfit experience. So if you’re considering diving into the Crossfit community, this may also double as a great checklist of ideas that you will want to keep an eye out for as you’re selecting a box! If you’re already a member or owner, it could serve as a gut check of whether or not you’re contributing to a positive atmosphere within your box.
First, let’s touch on some pros…
-Supportive Community
One of the traits that is so invaluable about the boxes that set themselves apart is the ability to build a support network. This typically extends far beyond the gym, and the relationships formed end up becoming solid friendships.
-Competition
Crossfit has been able to fill the competitive void in mine and many others’ daily lives that is present after organized sports are not an option. It provides a unique opportunity to constantly test yourself against a clock, against gravity, and against other members. It is also one of the few sports where you can constantly test yourself against professional athletes (no matter how impossible their clean maxes or fran times may be).
-Confidence (Through a Focus on Growth)
Crossfit inspires its members to test the limits and shatter their previous levels of performance. The atmosphere can be contagious. This outlook often carries over to give fresh perspective in the working world. In a lot of ways, it has brought back some of that blue collar mentality of working hard to achieve your goals (an outlook desperately needed to survive in the real world). I also remember hearing Kelly Starett talk about the impact Crossfit has had on kids in an episode of the docandjock podcast. Kids who don’t always fit in with the generalized stereotypes who figure out they can move some weight then gain a sense of confidence and belonging.
-Breaking the Beauty Mold
In a lot of ways, just like for kids, Crossfit has opened the door for women and the general public to see that strong is beautiful. While there is still a misconception that all girls who do Crossfit put on insane amounts of muscle mass over night, people have begun to recognize and respect women who sweat, work, and bleed for the sake of fitness.
-Networking
Nobody wants to be around the guy or girl that is always trying to make money, but many times Crossfit boxes can be a place to meet people and establish relationships that can be mutually beneficial in the business world. While I’m surely not advocating that you go around and pass out business cards to everyone, I do believe that as you truly invest in people and get to to know the members of your box, opportunities often arise.
-Empowering People to Take Responsibility for Their General Health and Wellness
As a physical therapy student, in my mind this is one of the most exciting psychosocial benefits of Crossfit. Over the last few years, I have seen a shift in the direction of people striving to learn and grow towards more efficient movement and functional health. By teaching and coaching it’s athletes through mobility blocks, strength deficits, and movement pattern flaws (at least in the good boxes) more people have started to better understand the importance of tearing down imbalances and impairments for the sake of long term growth. Coaches and athletes are more readily seeking education and information to improve their knowledge of their anatomy, physiology, and movement technique in order to better compete or progress their members. This accountability often overflows into everyday wellness outside of the gym, and has even started to further impact healthy sleep patterns and daily diet.
-Accountability
Becoming a member of a box will likely land you a login on Wodify and access to the white board. Not only will you be able to see your times, weights, and days of work, but also most other members’ WODs (workouts of the day) as well. Naturally they will be able to see your performances as well. This, and the monthly fee you will be paying, serve as great motivators to hold you accountable to working out each week. I’ve heard many people mention that this is the case. You have to be very disciplined and motivated to establish a workout plan and execute it by yourself weekly; however, your Crossfit box provides you with varied workouts, programming (some boxes MUCH better than others), and accountability each week until you start to enjoy working out each day.
So, in summary, Crossfit has become somewhat of a team atmosphere. Some of the more personal box owners are even trying to rally together their members to give back to the community and host social gatherings. Overall, Crossfit often offers a much more personal experience than a typical gym membership, and introduces opportunities to not only push yourself physically, but also to work together with similar-minded people from all backgrounds to achieve fitness goals. There are plenty more positives than I’ve listed here I’m sure, but these are some of the most clear to me.
Stay tuned as I touch on a few of the negatives within the next few days!
As always, we’d love to hear your questions, comments, or additions! Feel free to contact us!
Many people have asked why they continue to have trigger points and aching in their shoulders even after they continue to hammer them in the weight room. I just wanted to take a second to address the difference in scapulothoracic posture and its effect on static stability in the shoulder.
First, when you are actively engaging the shoulder in intense workouts or full ranges of motion, you are relying on the dynamic stability of your rotator cuff muscles to maintain the proper placement of the head of your humerus within the capsule (hopefully). While some people struggle (me included) to develop completely proficient recruitment patterns, this general idea of dynamic control remains the same. So, if you go in the gym and throw every plate in there on the bar and do some isolated rows or power snatches, you will absolutely build strength within your shoulder; however, this may not fix your issues with aching and pain in your static or resting stance.
In my journey towards becoming a licensed therapist, I have already seen the reactions that are typically returned when a PT mentions posture to his/her patient. The classic eye roll or attempts at jedi mind tricks to avoid the conversation are a norm. The reality is, people often don’t want to hear or believe that their posture can affect cause or fix their painful predicament. So, for the eye rollers out there, let’s look at the anatomy.
Neumann, Pg. 141
This picture is a great representation of the bare bones of what’s happening at the shoulder joint (lame pun intended). The rope represents the suprahumeral structures such as the supraspinatus and a few of the capsular ligaments. Static stability exists at rest through a couple processes:
1) The head of the humerus sits against a relatively inclined surface, almost like a makeshift shelf in the shoulder. This angle of the glenohumeral joint is made possible by…you guessed it, proper posture of the scapula. For those that are chronically in a hunched over (kyphotic thoracic spine) position with forward rounded shoulders typically have downwardly rotated scapulae. These downwardly rotated scapulae result in the second picture, effectively eliminating the natural shelf and increasing the forces of gravity on the head of the humerus inferiorly. This places large amounts of stress on the supraspinatus, superior capsular ligaments, and increases the laxity of the axillary pouch (part of the inferior capsule).
2) Speaking of the supraspinatus and the glenohumeral ligaments, they also provide primary support to the glenohumeral joint. The coracohumeral ligament, the superior capsular ligament, and the supraspinatus all actively work to prevent the golf ball that is the head of the humerus from falling down off the tee (GH joint). It has also been shown that the posterior fibers of the deltoid could contribute to this as well.
3) It wouldn’t be right to completely leave out the labrum, because it effectively deepens the socket by 50%, which is monumental in terms of stability. This is nowhere near as deep as the acetabulum (hip joint), but you have to trade stability to gain the ROM needed in the shoulder (mobility).
So, as you continue to blow up the large muscle groups in your shoulders to counteract your static pain and irritation, take a second to remember that poor scapulothoracic posture could be a major cause of your frustrations. Try to remind yourself to steer clear of that downwardly rotated, protracted, kyphotic position, and watch as not only your shoulder pain decreases, but you are more easily able to utilize efficient motor patterns in dynamic overhead positions. Sometimes building muscle bulk is not the fastest path from A to B; you need to have a solid static foundation to build your dynamic efficiency!
Remember that achieving proper posture, movement, and wellness is a lifelong endeavor, so enjoy the journey.
Tyler Vaughn SPT, CSCS
Pathology Performance
Owner, Pathology Apparel
Embrace Abnormality
*All of these ideas are summaries of those much smarter than myself! If you like the material, keep an eye out for the references, because that’s the bank I am pulling from!
Resources:
Neumann DA. Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System, Foundations for Rehabilitation. Mosby; 2010.
https://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.png00Tyler Vaughnhttps://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.pngTyler Vaughn2016-10-22 16:52:502016-10-22 16:56:50Static Stability of the Shoulder
Just a combination of a few different resources to get the most bang for your buck with this hip mobilization. It incorporates a posterior inferior femoral glide, subtalar eversion, and some neuro priming to open up your hips and prepare you to move more effectively throughout your squat range.
also available at www.instagram.com/pathologyapparel
https://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.png00Tyler Vaughnhttps://www.pathologyapparel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PA-Crest-small.pngTyler Vaughn2016-08-21 20:22:482016-08-21 20:37:41Banded Hip Mob for Deep Squats
