NEWS

The importance of breathing cannot be overemphasized.

On average, we breathe about 24,000 times per day, but how much attention does the average athlete pay to their breathing?

In order to perform at their best, athletes needs to be able to efficiently and effectively breathe oxygen into their bodies and exhale the waste products out.

Here’s how Pilates For Sports can help athletes develop this process.

THE BREATHING PROCESS

When we breathe in we expand our chest and lungs, and our diaphragm contracts and is pulled downward to make room for the lungs to expand. Outside our body, the air pressure is greater and air is drawn in when we inhale. Thus, the diaphragm lowers the internal air pressure and increases the volume of air in the chest cavity allowing us to expand our lungs.

When our diaphragm relaxes, it moves up, the rib cage contracts, the lungs collapse, the cavity inside your body gets smaller the air is pushed up and out your body – we exhale.

So, if we fully inhale a...

How does sitting for long hours at your desk weaken your glutes and impact on your running?

Weakness in the hips and glutes is common amongst those of us with a sedentary lifestyle. If our glutes aren’t working to their full capacity, then other muscles will have to overwork to pick up the slack.

Because of this, many runners I’ve met are told by their Physical Therapist that they have a ‘lazy butt’. So, why is this such a problem if, by evolution, we are actually designed to run?

 Let's take a minute to refresh our knowledge of the glutes. 

The gluteal muscle group consists of the gluteus maximus, minimus and medius. All three of these muscles have different yet very integrated roles in the lower body in relation to stability and mobility.

In summary, the gluteal muscles as a whole are responsible for:

• Hip extension – think take off phase in running
• Hip abduction – external rotation and internal rotation of the hip
• They are important for Femoral, patellar and tibial alignme...