EricCressey.com: All Fours Breathing

[@greentara291]

I love the cueing from the mediastinum and the serratus activation. I work with non-athletes and the t spine can be such a black hole in patients' proprioception. Thanks, for your continuing generosity Eric Cressy!

[@potrelviewer9536]

Ever since I was a baby, I've been forbidden to breathe in any position involving the belly facing down, due to a rushed C-section birth. I started to inhale the amniotic fluid in my mom's belly, and if it wasn't for this operation, I wouldn't be here writing this comment. I can breathe fine while lying down (back on the ground) and standing up, somewhat on the sides, but can't at all on all fours. Is it possible that this is a dire sign of cerebellum ataxia?

[@jayhorsley7978]

This looks alot like a cat-cow in yoga class. Amazing how many things I do in yoga that I see demonstrated as complementary isolation moves in weight lifting.

[@AlastairJohnRoss]

What should it feel like? Do you start with an apical expansion and then push up with hands/forearms on breathing out? And once you've formed the 'dome' should your aim be to 'fill it out' over the next few breaths?

[@mmayojr]

To begin with you want to get into the Quadruped position with a bit of a posterior tilt of your pelvis. You the want to breath all of your air out and feel ribcage be pulled down by your transverse abdominal and obliques. Once you have blown out all of your try to maintain the downward position of your ribcage. Now you should be driving your hands into the floor activating your serratus and rounding your upper back by trying to pull your sternum up to the ceiling. You should feel your obliques activating to pull your sternum up through. Take a deep breath in through your nose trying to fill your mid to upper back up with air. Then blow all your air out keeping your back flexed. The key is to try and blow all your air out for all the breaths, pause after your breath, and then breath through the nose again. With every new breath in you want to try to bring that sternum up further and further. Do 4 cycles of breaths.

[@AlastairJohnRoss]

+Mark Mayo Thanks!

[@kylebombczak8689]

What would you say causes someone to become extended? Bad posture choices? Or breathing patterns being the root?

[@jtinero]

Too much emphasis on retraction and depression of the scapulae in one's program, causing the lats (strong spinal extensor) to overpower lower traps, serratus, and so on. Bench pressing, rowing, pullups, etc are typically taught with the cue "down and back," which leads to a programming imbalance with an insufficient focus on protraction and upward rotation. Also posture like you said. You'll see people walking around with a strong arch in their lumbar spine, chest out, ribs flared, shoulders depressed/retracted which is typical of someone with an extended posture.

[@imthatg00d2000]

what does this do?

[@mmayojr]

A lot of us are in a state of extension where we are kind of locked out in that position. Flared ribcage, chest out and up, chin up with forward head posture, and anterior tipped pelvis. This exercise helps to relieve that extensor tone that causes a good amount of these issues.

[@antoniovillargo6319]

@@mmayojr do you know any else exercise?

[@mmayojr]

@@antoniovillargo6319 I do but you're better off finding a PRI practitioner near you.

[@antoniovillargo6319]

@@mmayojr please could you link me some videos? Sadly i can't find any practicioner where i live and i don't have money for it, but i have been doing some exercises, started doing goata and jump rope

[@antoniovillargo6319]

@@mmayojr does ribflare causes acessory muscles activation?