I have looked at a lot of photos and what made me choose this one was it’s title.
“Young fit man exercising in a gym. Sport people healthy lifestyle concept”
It describes the overall mindset that people have about the connection between
Being fit and Being healthy.
If you are fit you have to be healthy, right?
Not quite….
Doing sports and being active can make you healthier! BUT it is not implied.
and here’s a recent study that proves it.
The prevalence of athletes with dysfunctional breathing patterns was 90.6% (1,751 of 1,933). Athletes with diaphragmatic breathing patterns accounted for 9.4% of all athletes in our sample (182 of 1,933).
Shimozawa Y, Kurihara T, Kusagawa Y, Hori M, Numasawa S, Sugiyama T, Tanaka T, Suga T, Terada RS, Isaka T, Terada M. Point Prevalence of the Biomechanical Dimension of Dysfunctional Breathing Patterns Among Competitive Athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2022 May 24. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004253. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35612946.
Even more concerning were the results by age groups.
The highest percentages of dysfunctional breathers were in middle school student athletes (93.7%), followed by elementary school student athletes (91.2%), high school student athletes (90.6%), professional/semiprofessional athletes (87.5%), and collegiate athletes (84.8%).
Athletic fitness does not imply healthy breathing.
Why is this of any relevance? What does breathing have to do with health?
Your breathing is closely linked to your heart, your blood pressure, digestion, circulation, blood pH, spine stabilization, …
The regulation of your nervous system, the part that helps you heal and recover ( Rest and digest ) is managed and closely related to the way you breathe.
You may be able to endure rigorous training routines, have a stunningly toned body and still use your respiration in a very low, inefficient capacity.
If you breathe badly, it will increase the risk of injury, disrupt your nervous system balance, and you will not be able to recover properly.
It will strain your whole system and put it out of balance.
You will likely have problems relaxing and sleeping, clearing your head, remaining focused and undistracted. Even have anger issues, anxiety and back pains.
Your diaphragm is one of the two primary breathing muscles.
It ensures deep breathing, and is closely connected to your core strength and emotions. Plus it’s movement massages your inner organs.
