Recently, a Veteran who has always been physically and socially fit — admired for never ceasing in the fight for the Underdog, and for winning many battles on their behalf — made my day by asking for advice.
The patient was experiencing greater fatigue than usual, accompanied by a noticeable decline in productivity. Previously, the Veteran had been supremely fit, having learned how to maintain physical readiness for combat and motivated by perhaps the most compelling expectation of all: self-preservation. Although several health issues now existed in the background, the reduction in energy appeared disproportionate to what these factors alone might explain.
After key tests and vital signs returned within normal parameters, two common issues were identified — both of which affect many of us. First, the patient had developed a predominantly Apical rather than Diaphragmatic breathing pattern. Second, the training programme being followed was, at best, Ad Hoc — absent rather than Mission Focused.
Breathing and the production of power
Diaphragmatic breathing, colloquially known as Belly Breathing, differs from Apical or upper-chest breathing. In the latter, the upper chest rises prominently and the shoulders may elevate as accessory respiratory muscles become increasingly involved.
This pattern is not inherently abnormal; accessory muscles have an important role when ventilation demands increase. However, when upper-chest breathing becomes the predominant pattern at rest, respiration may become less mechanically efficient and can contribute to unnecessary muscular tension and a greater sense of respiratory effort.
Even at the highest levels of sport, breathing mechanics do not always receive the same deliberate attention as strength, speed, technique, or cardiovascular conditioning. During intense training and competition, athletes inevitably adapt their breathing to meet physiological demand, yet conscious instruction in efficient breathing mechanics can remain surprisingly limited.
Knowledge, in this context, really can contribute to power.
As we age, become more sedentary, experience stress, or become unwell, breathing patterns may change without our conscious awareness. The apparently easy option of shallow upper-chest breathing can become habitual — and what feels easy is not necessarily what is most efficient.
Diaphragmatic breathing is generally the more mechanically efficient pattern during quiet respiration. The diaphragm is the principal muscle of inspiration and its movement allows effective expansion of the thoracic cavity. Several important physiological and biomechanical principles help explain its significance:
Muscle Usage: Diaphragmatic breathing principally utilises the diaphragm, a large, dome-shaped muscle specifically adapted for respiration. Upper-chest breathing recruits accessory muscles, including the scalenes and sternocleidomastoid muscles, to assist elevation of the ribcage. When unnecessarily overused, these muscles may contribute to tension and fatigue around the neck and shoulders.
Work of Breathing: Efficient diaphragmatic movement can reduce unnecessary muscular effort during quiet breathing. Greater reliance on accessory muscles may increase the perceived effort required to breathe, particularly when the breathing pattern becomes rapid and shallow.
Lung Ventilation: Movement of the diaphragm encourages expansion of the lower regions of the lungs, where pulmonary blood flow is substantial. This can support efficient ventilation and gas exchange compared with a persistently shallow upper-chest breathing pattern.
Nervous System Response: Slow, controlled diaphragmatic breathing is associated with increased parasympathetic activity and may assist in reducing physiological arousal. Conversely, rapid, shallow breathing commonly accompanies stress and heightened sympathetic activity.
Core Stability: The diaphragm is also an important component of the body's pressure and stabilisation system. Working in coordination with the abdominal wall and pelvic floor, it contributes to control of the spine, pelvis, and ribcage during movement.
Breathing, therefore, is considerably more than simply moving air in and out. It forms part of the body's broader system of movement, regulation, stability, and energy management.
Breathing under pressure
When watching team sport, it is intriguing to observe the physical responses of the team that has just scored compared with those of the team that has just conceded.
This is an observation rather than a scientific conclusion, but the contrast can be striking.
The scoring team retreats towards the halfway line, often embracing in a circle, standing upright and collectively resetting. The conceding team may gather behind the goal, with individual players bending forward, hands on knees, taking deeper or more deliberate breaths.
Whether these postures consistently correspond to specific breathing patterns would require formal investigation. Nevertheless, they offer an interesting illustration of the relationship between posture, breathing, emotion, and performance.
The Team That Has Scored
Play to Expand: The team holding the lead possesses a psychological advantage but can fall into the trap of playing not to lose. Performance may deteriorate when attention shifts from executing the task to protecting the result. Teams are generally better served by continuing to perform deliberately rather than becoming preoccupied with defending the scoreboard.
Energy Management: The pressure associated with maintaining a lead can create physical and psychological tension. Athletes who remain focused on controllable actions — positioning, communication, technique and decision-making — are better placed to maintain composure.
The Team That Has Conceded
Reduced Expectations: Falling behind can, paradoxically, remove some of the pressure associated with perfection. The burden of protecting a lead disappears and athletes may temporarily adopt a freer, more instinctive approach.
Play to Catch Up: The trailing team is compelled into action and may adopt a more attacking rhythm. Grit and urgency become valuable — but urgency can readily become anxiety. Once this occurs, deliberate performance may give way to rushed decisions, excessive effort and technical errors.
Whether winning or losing on the scoreboard of life, efficient breathing remains part of efficient performance.
Planning for peak performance
The second component of the Veteran's requirement was the establishment of a programme designed to achieve peak performance.
Peak performance cannot be sustained indefinitely. Training must therefore be organised around periods of increasing load, adaptation, peak performance and recovery. The precise duration of these phases differs according to the individual, the activity and the demands being imposed, but the principle remains constant: the human body cannot remain at absolute peak indefinitely without consequence.
Like the Veteran, we must choose our battles.
Fatigue is not necessarily evidence of failure. It is a physiological signal that must be interpreted in context. The challenge is to determine when maximum performance is required and to structure training, exertion and recovery accordingly.
This becomes increasingly important with age. Recovery may not occur as rapidly as it did in youth, and the margin for repeatedly ignoring fatigue becomes smaller. Yet this does not make high performance unattainable. Rather, it makes careful programming more important.
A thoughtfully designed fitness programme can itself become an exercise in strategy: establishing priorities, allocating resources, anticipating periods of greater demand and preserving sufficient reserves for when they are genuinely required. The reward is not simply improved fitness, but greater available energy, better execution and fewer errors caused by unnecessary fatigue.
Rather than attempting to sustain a single prolonged period of maximum performance, several smaller peaks may be strategically positioned throughout the year. This permits periods of higher performance while still allowing the recovery and adaptation necessary to sustain health over the longer term.
Absolute power, however, is always transient.
History demonstrates this repeatedly — often with significant consequences for those who attempt to pursue or retain it without limitation. The same principle applies, in a rather less dramatic fashion, to human physiology. Power requires resources. Resources require replenishment. No system can operate indefinitely at maximum output.
At that point, whether one breathes Apically or Diaphragmatically becomes the least of one's concerns.
The absence of breathing is absolute powerlessness.