curious

[Scrap]

Anybody got anything on apperatus for restricting the Dyaphram curious. Thanking you for your Help.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

my knee on their chest


not sure what you're after in relation to the diaphragm but Pillates teaches you to expand your ribs laterally rather than big in and out breathes that we're meant to do. You can practice it by wrapping a scarf round your lower ribs. Try and keep your stomach relaxed and breathe causing the scarf to move.

[Sharla]

The powerbreathe is supposed to make your inspiratory muscles work harder - which I'm guessing is the diaphragm.

I bought one on Ebay.

It is actually really hard! I'm on close to the lowest setting! At the moment I can say I'm not feeling aerobicaly weak running etc either but it is really hard work using this thing! I think I have to get into the habit of using it more because I'm meant to be using it twice a day but I forget. Need to make it part of a stretching routine etc and make time for it.

Apart from that yeah pilates with a good instructor as Missy says is working that i think. One who puts some emphasis on using the right muscles and breathing correctly.

Mine also goes into when to 'imprint' the back into the mat and when to keep a neutral spine etc because she's looked further into it than the original pilates which she says was always keeping the back imprinted.

I'd love to eventually use the power breathe while doing pilates but for the powerbreathe to work you have to inhale through your mouth and wear this nose clip thingy.

However in pilates my instructor tells me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. That feels right somehow - perhaps has me expanding my rib cage sideways more to breathe in deeply instead of raising my shoulders incorrectly and encouraging upper back/neck tightness.

For that reason i'm not sure of how to reconcile the two. Perhaps with more practice at both I can keep my ribs expanding sideways the way they are meant to be while breathing in through my mouth but right now as a beginner it is a little more challenging than would be ideal i think.

Oh and the scarf thing you suggest makes sense Missy. My pilates instructor makes us do it with a stretch band.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Cheers Sharla. I always figured the Powerbreathe was for expanding lung capacity rather than working the diaphragm but as it's a 'forced' method of breathing it must also work the diaphragm. I do quite a bit yoga/kundalini breath work and that is hard. I read about some research in to the fitness levels of people doing yoga exclusively. Lung capacity was one area they did very well in.

I can recommend some exercises if you like - probably on another thread since I feel we've hijacked this one and Scrap is staying silent & not giving us any more info to go on

[Sharla]

To be honest I'm still a complete beginner at yoga ad pilates and I've never heard of kundalini breath work but you have me very curious!

I don't actually know the name of the form my instructor teaches and apart from that the only one I've heard of is a bikram yoga place near me. I haven't tried that yet though since it seems a bit pricey.

Will keep my eye out for the thread whenever you have time to post it.

[Scrap]

Found a way of improving the way the Diaphram works, just want to try something opposite .

[Chris Nagel]

Well you know enough about what good posture can do, on the other hand you could show them bad posture which ought have a reversed effect on their diaphragm.

As for an apparatus, you could come up something that lays a heavy weight on their chest, or perhaps you'd rather sit down on their chest. Other than that maybe a wide weight-lifting belt would do the trick if it comes up high enough.

[Scrap]

Chris its something that got overlooked in some testing Ive done. Which as usual it was staring me in the Face, looking at the Bigger Picture and not at the simple clues.

[Scrap]

It all boils down to feel and what it does Protect

[Sharla]

pelvic stability?

Allowing the diaphragm to function properly and the rectus abdominus to protect the spine?

[Chris Nagel]

pelvic stability?

Allowing the diaphragm to function properly and the rectus abdominus to protect the spine?

That's what I would've guessed.

[twoohands]

[quote=Sharla;709999]The powerbreathe is supposed to make your inspiratory muscles work harder - which I'm guessing is the diaphragm.

I bought one on Ebay.

It is actually really hard! I'm on close to the lowest setting! At the moment I can say I'm not feeling aerobicaly weak running etc either but it is really hard work using this thing! I think I have to get into the habit of using it more because I'm meant to be using it twice a day but I forget. Need to make it part of a stretching routine etc and make time for it.
----------------------------------------------------------------


i just purchased a power breathe. I got the ironman version. It arrived 2 days ago, Ive only used it 3 times cant see any results but i think with time it will work.

[Scrap]

Its what the Abdominal wall Helps protect where the Problem is

[Howlin Mad Missy]

you do leave us these puzzles I like it.....gets the grey matter working.

[Sharla]

The abdominal wall - damn I thought it read stomach wall and i went looking and realized that was in front of the liver but you probably didn't mean that.

mmmmm tricky!

The abdominal wall according to this site includes the psoas etc :
Figure 25-13

So maybe it protects the kidneys as well as the spine, nervous system etc?

Really I guess it depends on how local you want to go - surely it could also protect the heart,liver, lungs etc etc.

Poor posture due to all that being out of whack will limit space (eg reduced lung capacity) for all of those organs and put pressure where there shouldn't be (pressure on nerves?).

Where the problem is you say Scrap? So much can go wrong with the human body where do we begin!

I'm going to guess some problems which might be relevant - other people might have better guesses but here goes:

1) Lung capacity decreased

2) Circulation limited - perhaps strain on the heart, general compression from decreased space as the ribs become less able to expand with breathing etc due to poor posture etc etc

3) Compression in the lower spine - messing with nerves there which further aggrivate the problem - vicious circle type thing as people often try to compensate for the pain with inappropriate posture and muscles tighten in unfortunate ways. Leads to knee pain etc etc.

So yeah Scrap - might need another clue I think!