INTRODUCTION TO BREATHING FOR FREEDIVING
BY MARCO VALLARINO
A lot has already been said and written about breathing, as it has always been the
PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS
BY MARCO VALLARINO
PHYSIOLOGY
In order to keep living our cells need the oxygen, available in the air we breath a
BREATHING EXERCISES
BY MARCO VALLARINO
USUAL RESPIRATORY SCHEMAS
Usually in quiet breathing, the diaphragm is the only muscle to work, while in
RELAXATION EXERCISES
BY MARCO VALLARINO
RELAXATION IN FREEDIVING
There is a close relation between the state of relaxation of the body and o
SAFE BREATHING
BY MARCO VALLARINO
SAFETY IN FREEDIVING
In regards to safety we have to talk about two techniques in particular that are pot
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BREATHING EXERCISES BY MARCO VALLARINO
USUAL RESPIRATORY SCHEMAS Usually in quiet breathing, the diaphragm is the only muscle to work, while in the middle breathing it works together with the intercostals, then the great breathing includes also the spinal muscles extending the spine. Not all of us breath the same way: everyone, for different reasons, develops his own respiratory schema that is characterized by the part of the body that is mainly involved. There will be then people with an abdominal breathing (common with men), people with a thorax breathing (common with women) and many other variations: rear breathing, front breathing, hips breathing, paradoxical breathing, etc …. You can have an idea of what is your respiratory schema through a respiratory scan:
We can do it the same if we sit on the edge of a chair with our back straight , but it might slightly change because of the different position of the organs into the body. The schemas vary according to the person involved and describing every single type of schema that we can find is really difficult. The most important thing to know is that it is possible to change them. Through a proper training, possibly with a good trainer, it is possible to learn a new one, get a proper knowledge of ours, improve the ones that are not functional. There are several breathing techniques that are used in different domains. Some of these have become essential for a freediving training. APNEA AND EXERCISES “If you want to learn how to hold your breath, you have to learn how to breath first” In freediving, the so called diaphragm complete breathing has to be considered the best technique that allows a better use of the lungs volumes. To be honest the diaphragm always works during breathing, however, as said before, not all breath the same way and often people do not use this muscle properly. In order to improve our breathing we should first of all pay attention to the diaphragm and its functional movements, preferring a respiratory schema that fully exploits the abdominal phase before passing to the thorax one. Here is the description of a simple and basic exercise for the abdominal breathing to practice after having our breath scanned for a few moments:
Some people already use properly their abdomen for breathing, while it is less involved the thorax in it. In this case it would be good to exercise also the thorax with a proper respiratory technique, that is in practice the opposite of the one described above: by inhaling the thorax will expand in all directions, especially its upper and middle portions, with no use of the abdomen that will “collapse” to allow the expansion of the thorax. Once that we are able to use the two phases properly, it will be easier to perceive the motion of the diaphragm and we could use the diaphragm complete breathing, the best one to physiologically stock the largest quantity of air and better use the vital capacity. This breathing technique can be divided according to praticalness, in three phases: abdominal, thoracic and clavicles. To be honest every phase is consequential to the other and final aim is to make the breath more fluid and smooth. Let’s see it in detail:
NOTE breathing can take place by:
For the exercise describe above it is better to use the first option (nose/nose)and/or the second one (nose/mouth). A common mistake is represented by mistaking a simple passage of air volumes in the thorax for a thorax breathing. In this case the diaphragm at a certain point stops its respiratory action and follows the thorax, and this reduces the real volume available, because if on a hand the thorax expands in its upper and middle part, on the other hand it decreases in the lower part frustrating the whole operation. For this reason at the beginning you should focus on understanding and classifying the diaphragm, thorax and abdominal motions. There are many other exercises according to what we intend to train and improve: the ribcage elasticity, the mobility of the diaphragm, the control of our breathing according to specific rates, etc. However no article, essay or manual, and many of them are very good, can replace the eyes of a good experienced trainer. Every single person has different needs however there are still a few things we can add about relaxation and safety. |
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