Piston breathing (and why you should be using it with your workouts!)
By Karlie Causey DC MS CCSP CSCS
I am surprised that I never learned the term “piston breathing” through all my years of study; undergrad studies in kinesiology, a masters program in human biology, and a doctorate in chiropractic. It wasn’t until I really started learning about peri-natal care and fitness that I learned this term and how to put it into use for patients/athletes. I was shocked! Why wasn’t this information more available, not just for doctors or people working in the fitness world, but for the general population?!
This article is my attempt to familiarize you with this technique and help you put it into practice to save your pelvic floor… ESPECIALLY if you are pregnant!
When we think of a piston, we think about the transfer of force. In this case, we are thinking about the transfer of force as you breathe in and what happens to your pelvic floor and your diaphragm.
As you breathe IN your diaphragm and pelvic floor move downwards. As you breathe OUT your diaphragm and pelvic floors moves up and contracts.
We can use this breathing pattern to make sure that we are not putting excessive strain down through the pelvic floor as we are lifting. You can understand why it might be even more imperative when pregnant (with extra weight of a baby, placenta, etc weighing down on the pelvic floor ALL. THE. TIME.)
Let’s talk about how we might put this into practice using a squat. At the top of the movement, you will take a breath. As you descend into the bottom of the squat you will AGGRESSIVELY blow your air out (never holding your breath). As you hit the bottom of the squat, you should be breathing out, as well as doing a slight Kegel, which will cause your pelvic floor to engage and helps you avoid all that pressure dropping down through the pelvic floor.
You can use this breathing technique with any movement… presses, deadlifts, core work and on and on. I like to cue patients to “breathe out at what feels like the hardest part of the movement” to ensure that that excess force isn’t going down into the pelvic floor.
So… give it a try! I can honestly say that learning this technique and putting it into practice allowed me to continue to workout during my pregnancy. And now, postpartum, I use it with all of my weightlifting. I feel stronger than ever and have been able to avoid postpartum pelvic floor issues in part by using strategies like this one! Let me know what you think and happy squatting!