Exercise · Chest

Diaphragmatic breathing

You breathe so that the ribs widen and the belly rises, instead of the chest and shoulders lifting. Momentum's system treats this as a movement, not a relaxation technique: it names diaphragmatic breathing failure as the movement failure behind stress and tension, rib expansion and diaphragm excursion as the failure behind breathing dysfunction, and pressure control as the failure behind core instability. The same muscle sits behind all three — the diaphragm both drives the breath and regulates the pressure inside the abdomen that stabilises the spine. When it stops moving well, the neck muscles take over the breathing, which is where the tension shows up.