Back pain. Shoulder pain. Neck pain. Rib pain. What do all of these have in common from a rehab standpoint? They almost always start with the same exercise: diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing). At first glance that sounds odd. Why would we focus on breathing when the pain is so far away from the lungs? Because your breathing pattern alters everything you do. Whether you’re a college athlete or someone who sits at a desk all day, you breathe thousands of times per day. If that breathing pattern is dysfunctional, then every other movement you make is built on compensation. What is the diaphragm, really? The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that sits underneath the lungs. It separates the chest cavity (heart and lungs) from the abdominal cavity (digestive organs and more). It’s unique because it has two critical roles. First, respiration. When the diaphragm contracts, it descends and flattens, expanding the lungs and drawing air in. Second, core stability. The diaphragm forms the top of what we call the core cylinder: - Diaphragm on top - Pelvic floor on the bottom - Core musculature (obliques, rectus abdominis, multifidus) wrapping around As the diaphragm descends, it pushes abdominal contents downward. The pelvic floor resists that pressure (a topic that deserves its own post). This interaction creates intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). IAP acts like an internal weightlifting belt, stiffening and stabilizing the spine against shear and bending forces. This is the foundation of proper core engagement. So, what happens when we don’t use it properly? When the diaphragm doesn’t do its job, people become chest-dominant breathers. Instead of expanding through the abdomen and ribs, the body recruits muscles around the neck and shoulders to pull air in from above. These muscles were never designed to be primary breathing muscles. Over time they fatigue, posture deteriorates, the head drifts forward, the shoulders round, and those same muscles can no longer properly support the neck and shoulders.

After a long hiatus I’m going to start to be more active within this community once again. Originally when I started this community I knew that this was something that I was going to want to use but wasn't exactly sure how. Like many things that I see online there is a lot of start first and figure it out along the way. Unfortunately, when you work full time and are in the middle of planning a wedding, some things fall by the wayside. Now, after a lot of deliberation, I have a more clear idea of what I am going to start to use this community for. The main thing that I want people to get out of this community is for it to be used for education and to talk about topic that I see on a consistent basis within the clinic, gym or even in the sports world and how they relate to health and fitness. I would like this to be an area that people can learn and (hopefully) implement some of the topics into their own lives. So moving forward expect to see more blog style posts explaining different rehab and training principles and even ask whatever questions you’d like with them moving forward. If this is not something your intersted in I totally understand if you decide to leave. But on the flip side if you know of someone who would find this type of thing interesting, feel free to invite anyone you may know. I am not going to promise any frequency but will still continue to monitor the community if there are any topics that would spark your interest.

Ive seen on ig reels about how people use various isometrics to avoid injuries but I don’t really know what do you have to do for that

It’s been some time since I’ve posted on here but life can get hectic. So I want to hear some wins from you guys can be health related, personal or otherwise. My personal win is that I got married to the beautiful @Lexi Painchaud 2 weeks ago (hence the hiatus). Let’s here from you!

Let’s hear some fitness, injury or personal wins from everyone from this past week. I’ll start things. I was able to get in either a training session or a cardio session (even an evening walk) everyday this week. Things are going to look different over the next couple of with our wedding coming up but it was good to stay at it! Let’s hear from you. What your big win? Comment below 👇