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November 25, 2023 8 mins

In order to have good diaphragm mechanics on inhalation, you must first master exhalation and be able to acquire a “zone of apposition” (or ZOA).  Dr. Sarah Petrich defines what a ZOA is, and the corresponding diaphragm biomechanics.

The adduction drop test and apical expansion tests were used with permission from the Postural Restoration Institute®.

About Sarah Petrich, PT, DPT, PRC, NCPT: 

As a specialist in Postural Restoration, Pilates, & Dance Medicine, Dr. Sarah Petrich provides physical therapy and Pilates training focusing on re-balancing posture, alignment and breathing for patients and wellness clients. When not in the clinic or on zoom, she's often traveling around the nation teaching educational courses to healthcare professionals, Pilates instructors and other movement specialists. You can find her and her courses on her website www.sarahpetrich.com or on Instagram at @drsarahpetrich.

Catch Oxygen Plus at @oxygenplus on TikTok and Instagram

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Just be happy with

Speaker 2 (00:05):
The air . Hi, I'm Dr . Sarah Petrich , and we're
back to talk about the zone ofopposition breathing that I
talked about in a couple othervideos previously. Uh , and

(00:25):
first of all, we gotta knowwhat the zone of opposition is.
Well , uh, it happens to be ,uh, in reference to what your
diaphragm does when you breatheand what position it's in. Now,
when you exhale, the firstthing that should happen is
that your diaphragm should domeup , uh, kind of like a

(00:46):
parachute. If you've ever, whenyou were a kid, played with the
, that big parachute in gymclass and , um, all the kids
were around the edges of it andpulled it down as the diaphragm
parachute it up. Yes, I saidthe diaphragm, the parachute,
parachute it up. That's whatyour diaphragm should do on
exhalation. So I have my , uh,trusty rib cage here and I've

(01:11):
got a TheraBand that I'm gonnatry to make into a diaphragm
today. We'll see how it goes.
So if your diaphragm here, okay, attaches and it bit better
attached to the inside of yourrim cage . But also it attaches
to your spine, not this highup, but actually attaches down
lower. I just don't have thatmuch , uh, segments to show

(01:33):
you, but it generally is here.
When you exhale, it should, andI'm gonna put it on its stand
when you exhale, it should domeup into your rim cage . And as
you can see, as the diaphragmdomes up, we don't have as much
air in your lungs. Now youdon't actually get all the air

(01:54):
out of your lungs at any onetime. So it'd be much more like
this. I just can't demonstrateit perfectly. But , uh, when
you exhale, just to reiterate,your diaphragm domes up into
that cavity and the air expelsout. Now this is actually when
the muscle is at rest or it'srelaxing. This is really

(02:17):
important because any muscle isgonna be much more efficient
and better at contracting ifyou start it in a more relaxed
position. You wouldn't go tothe gym and decide you're going
to work out a bicep and you'relike, I'm gonna start with my
muscle contracted like this andthen tense it up more. That
would be kind of ridiculous. Sowe always start with the arm

(02:40):
straight where the muscles atits longest, and then we
contract it and you work themuscle through the whole range
of motion and you're also gonnaget a better muscle
contraction. So that's whywe're gonna talk first today
about getting a good zone ofopposition on exhalation
because we gotta get thisdiaphragm to relax really good

(03:01):
first in order to A, get thediaphragm to work a little bit
more functionally for you, butb, also to attain a good
breathing posture where yourribs are not flared out,
creating a flat distendeddiaphragm, but instead we get

(03:22):
your ribs to come down and inand back so that you get a nice
curve to your diaphragm whereit's domming up. So here's the
tagline. You want curvydiaphragms and not flat
diaphragms on your exhale. Now,how we do that is gonna be
really important when youexhale as that diaphragm domes

(03:45):
up, there's certain musclesthat help move your ribs in
order to get you in a goodposition. And those mu those
muscles should be your abs. Infact, everybody thinks first
abs are important for spinestability, core stability and
strength. It is good forposture, it is good for

(04:07):
posture, but first you want ityour abs to work good for good
breathing posture. And then youcan work on your abs for
strength and stability and allof the other fun things, but
abs for breathing first. So howdo we change your breathing and
how do we get this zone ofapposition where this, this

(04:28):
diaphragm domes up and has morefibers up against the rim cage
so that we get more air out anda more relaxed diaphragm to
function for us when weeventually inhale and try to
contract it. So let's do somethings to change that pattern.

(04:49):
The first thing that you canwork on is to work on a breath
, uh, pattern, which is morelike triangle breathing, where
you exhale completely and thenhold your breath. And I usually
like to tell people, especiallyif you're not comfortable
holding your breath out forvery long, try to exhale and

(05:11):
hold your breath as calmly ,uh, as possible knowing that
you can breathe in at any time'cause you have control over
that, that calmness is reallyimportant so that you also
allow your rib cage to move asyou exhale and let those ribs
swing back. Uh, in anothervideo that we talked about ,

(05:33):
um, if you think of the rimcage as the shape of a bell,
when you exhale, you want thatbell to kind of swing backwards
and that's gonna get these ribstucked in a little bit more and
these ribs in the back willelevate up. And actually, since
the diaphragm happens toconnect to the spine, the
diaphragm will actually dome upand pull up on the spine and

(05:57):
help you dec decompress yourback. So, hey, you can even
help the length and spacebetween your vertebral bodies
for good spine health just withgood breathing. Now that's one
thing you can do. So breathewith an exhale, then hold your
breath out for as long as youcomfortably without panicking

(06:20):
can, and then you inhale. Sothat's number one. Number two,
I mentioned that when we exhalethese ribs go down in and back
your abdominals, help do that.
Now there are several peoplethat work way too hard and they
don't know how to use theirabdominals effectively and

(06:42):
efficiently, and they tend togrip and use them or misuse
them in a dysfunctional way. SoI'm, I'm very hesitant to cue
abdominals and engagingabdominals for breathing.
Instead, I like to use what Icall abdominal buddies. These
are muscles that are not abs,but they could be an arm

(07:06):
muscle, like a shoulder muscleor a leg muscle to help engage
the right muscles around yourtorso to actually promote more
ab work so that you don't evenhave to think about it too
much. You accidentally get absto fire. And then there's one
other thing that we can do andwe're gonna do that as well in

(07:26):
a minute, but you can also dosome breathing proprioceptive
tricks. And my favorite one isto blow up a balloon. So get
ready. That's coming. Thankseverybody for watching and I
wanna do an extra specialthanks to Oxygen Plus I hope
you learn something. And ifyou'd like to find me, you can

(07:49):
find me@sarahpetrich.com.
S-A-R-A-H-P-E-T-R-I-C h.com .
Or if you wanna learn moreabout Oxygen Plus you can find
them@oxygenplus.com.
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