Clenching teeth and breathing

[Guest guest]

Chelos wrote:

<My theory is that this habit inherently gave me poor breathing

technique while lifting heavy weights. By reducing excessive tension

away from the jaw and neck area, I noticed an enhanced focus on my

lifting technique via proper breathing.>

Mel wrote:

[The phases of maximum force production and stabilisation occur while

the breath is being held, so how would any emphasis on normal

breathing help? Mel Siff]

****Exactly. For you to hold your breath, you need to control not

only your diaphram but your lip and cheek muscles too. Think of your

lips as a pressure relief valve. When the pressure becomes too great,

you will naturally release some air.

When you want to maintain maximum IAP (inter-abdominal pressure), yes

you need to hold your breath. I agree. However at some stage you need

to expel CO2 and breathe in fresh air while maintaining a certain

degree of IAP. Some individuals like me will open their lips slightly

to allow some air in.

Coordination between the tongue, cheeks and lips (as well as the

diaphram) allows one to breathe in and out while maintaining a level

of IAP necessary for spinal stabilisation. However, clenching my

teeth, at least in my case does not allow me to breathe normally

while maintaining an adequate level of IAP.

Maybe my analysis is incorrect but I can not breathe normally with

clenched teeth and with a heavy load on my upper back. Air intake is

severley restricted.

Yes you can probably breathe in through your nose, but for me that

feels very unusual. Relaxing the jaw muscles enables better control

of my breathing especially during periods of high IAP.

Just for the record, I did make a splint like device which I placed

in between my upper and lower teeth. There was enough space for air

to travel in and out and I was quite pleasantly suprised by my inital

findings.

I do think clenching the teeth may assist somehow in allowing me to

lift heavier weights but as yet I do not know why. If I manage to

experiment long enough, I'll post my results.

Chelos Sydney Australia