Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
I remember lifting weights and using my ability to hold my breath while straining to life that next higher weight. As I understand it now that was what they call the, “Valsalva Maneuver.” I also found that in karate practice of the sanchin kata that most hard-style practitioners resort to this maneuver to achieve the appearance of strength and power.
The valsalva method in sanchin is about holding your breath and straining the musculature with isometric/isotonic tensing or straining. Apparently this increased pressure can bring about, at its worst, cardiac arrest especially in those vulnerable to heart issues. It was once stated that if you are not vulnerable to heart issues then it should be ok to use and after all they can lift heavier weights easier if they use the method. Well, apparently not so much.
It is also a matter of medical understanding that holding your breath and exerting can cause a stroke. It is also believed in karate communities who practice sanchin that the more strain, the more tensing of our musculature and the slow restricted breathing will help strengthen our lungs and breathing but that is actually simply not true.
It was also stated by a respiratory therapist taht using the valsalva maneuver, with excessive pressure on the inhale, practitioners can burst a bulb in their lungs as well as create excessive intra-cranial pressure that would possibly cause a stroke.
In some cases using this type of breathing can cause our windpipes to constrict from the vacuum created and cause a weakening of our windpipe and as a result adversely effect the speaking voice and invite apnea.
This brings back how one practices sanchin. Yes it is a form of isotonic and isometric type training but the use of our breath is way off kilter. I have advocated that if you need to hold or restrict your breathing then you are doing it wrong be it weight lifting or doing the sanchin breathing exercise.
I have witnessed many sanchin breathing methods in both sanchin and in other kata where the breathing is loud and the body and breathing either perform the valsalva maneuver or come very close to it. In truth, to practice and benefit from sanchin breathing one must:
- breath normally and without strain.
- inhale through the nose.
- exhale through the mouth.
- breathe normally and without strain.
- adjust the muscle tension aspects according to the inhale and exhale, not the other way around (breathe controls the muscle tension, etc.)
- breath normally and without strain.
- the degree of muscle tension, i.e., sequential locking and sequential relaxation, should be slight, not hard. It is like flexing the muscles but not to the extent seen in body building demonstrations (body building demo’s tend to resort to the valsalva maneuver because it is believed to pump up the muscles and make them look better).
- WARNING: I are not a doctor and my recommendations although acceptable to my practice should be validated and approved by appropriate medical authorities before attempting …
I try to remember that pressures applied are actually stresses and dependent on those stresses can be both beneficial and detrimental to our health, fitness and overall longevity. We human males tend to go a bit crazy when we think adding a bit more strain and tensing the muscles a bit more along with controlling our breathing to the point of red faces high loud sounds of breathing are stronger and better and more powerful than they really are, reality can be misleading in our internal mental world vs. the reality of our external world.
More:
Valsalva maneuver: A maneuver in which one tries with force to exhale with the windpipe closed, impeding the return of venous blood to the heart.
Physiology of the Valsalva effect:
The Valsalva is generally divided into four separate phases.
- Phase 1: Onset of straining and the beginning of an increase in intrathoracic pressure.
- Phase 2: The persistent straining and maintenance of the increased intrathoracic pressure.
- Phase 3: Release of breath-holding and glottic pressure with a sudden drop in the intrathoracic pressure.
- Phase 4: Sudden increase in cardiac output and aortic pressure.
Note: read the entire article in the third URL under the bibliography that follows this article.
The VM is the forced exhalation against a closed glottis (the part of your throat that can close and, among other things, prevent exhalation).
There are four phases during the Valsalva maneuver.
- Phase one is the onset of straining with increased intrathoracic pressure. The heart rate does not change but blood pressure rises.
- Phase two is marked by the decreased venous return and consequent reduction of stroke volume and pulse pressure as straining continues. The heart rate increases and blood pressure drops.
- Phase three is the release of straining with decreased intrathoracic pressure and normalization of pulmonary blood flow.
- Phase four marks the blood pressure overshoot (in the normal heart) with return of the heart rate to baseline.
Bibliography (Click the link)
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