by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS
This is the 3rd and final part of my 3 part series on ways that we can combine 2 of my favorite training techniques…DVRT and Rocktape. If you are training for the DVRT Clean and Press test as part of the level 1 certification, you know that passing it is no easy task. In this blog series, we have been talking about how you can use Rocktape to improve stability, tissue quality and overall movement to assist you in your quest to crush the DVRT Clean and Press test. If you missed part 1 on the performance back chain, click here. If you are interested in reading about improving shoulder stability, you can find it here.
In this edition, I want to talk about the diaphragm. It can be argued that the diaphragm is the most dysfunctional muscle in the body on most people. We are a society of chest breathers, limiting our lunge capacity, causing unneeded wear and tear on our shoulders, decreasing trunk stability, and decreasing our overall performance.
Training the diaphragm is so important, yet can be very complex, which is why a lot of people shy away from it. Unfortunately, it is really difficult to describe in a simple blog post. We can have an entire day of live education on it to get someone started who isn’t used to training breathing patterns. But, because it is such an important topic, let’s take a few minutes and hit some high points. For simplicity sake, let’s focus on 2 reasons to improve the function of the diaphragm: Breathing and Stability.
As we talk about breathing, we can improve performance during a maximum effort test, such as the Clean and Press test by helping someone to breath more efficiently. With improved efficiency, you can expect more oxygen to get into the body because of an increase in lung capacity. Increasing the lung capacity happens by expanding the “cylinder” of the trunk in all directions.
This occurs by belly breathing, which is not new to a lot of fit pros and clinicians. One thing that I see a lot of people forgetting about is that we need to be able to expand the cylinder in all directions (anterior, posterior, lateral, superior and inferior). Most people only use the superior portion of their diaphragm, making them a chest breather. Belly breathing has become popular in recent years, which is great, but we must also make sure people aren’t just breathing anteriorly through their belly. They must expand laterally, posteriorly and inferiorly. By wrapping the core in tape, we are able to affect all areas of the performance core chain and use the tape as a constant reminder to expand in a number of directions.
When we turn to the stability component of the diaphragm, I think that it is most easily understood by looking at the fascial line that it helps to make up. It sits in the middle of the performance core chain with the deep neck flexors, transverse abdominis, multifidus, pelvic floor, adductors, and posterior tibialis. It is widely accepted that these muscles combine to make up the deep, inner unit stabilizers of the trunk, core, and pelvis.
Using Robert Schleip’s concept of reflexive inhibition, we know that providing stimulus to the skin and mechanoreceptors ultimately leads to a palpable response in muscle tone. We also know that normalizing tissue at any point along a fascial line will have an impact on other areas of that fascial line. Thus, when we apply tape to the abdomen, we are able to up-regulate the nervous system in that area and normalize the tissue along the front functional line.
When we up-regulate the nervous system in the area of the diaphragm, we help to restore stability in the trunk and core and normalize breathing patterns. Because of this, it has become one of my main “go-to” taping applications for just about everything. It often helps a poor squat, the throwing athlete, lower leg pain, hamstring issues, and a variety of other dysfunctions.
As we apply the concept of diaphragmatic breathing and training to the DVRT Clean and Press, improving trunk stability will improve strength and power by allowing your primary movers to do what they are supposed to do, move the body. Primary movers are supposed to move, not stabilize. Once the stabilizers do their job, power increases, which obviously improves the clean and press.
As mentioned above, improving diaphragmatic breathing will maximize breathing capacity, thus allowing you to “Go Stronger. Longer.” Anytime you go after an all out 5 minute test, oxygen is at a premium. Improving breathing can be a game changer for finishing the last few reps of the DVRT Clean and Press test strong.
To learn how to tape the diaphragm to improve your DVRT Clean and Press, check out the video below. Another special thanks to my dear friend and DVRT Master Instructor, Larry Betz of the Brooklyn Athletic Club in Brooklyn, NY.
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