Anatomy and Physiology Series: Physiology of inhalation

Inhalation gets pretty largely ignored in some pedagogical circles…not all, but some. Singers tend to be all about the exhalation:  How to make it longer, how to make it easier, how to make it stronger, but they very rarely take a look at inhalation. At rest, inhalation is mainly done by the contraction of the diaphragm. When breathing at rest, inhalation is about 40% of the breathing cycle, and exhalation is about 60%. When speaking, inhalation becomes about 10% of the cycle and exhalation about 90%. And, although there is no solid data on this, I would suspect during operatic singing, that gap is even wider between inhalation and exhalation. So let’s go over the two main ways a person can inhale for speech and singing and their biological function so we can get a better sense of how to make that 10% of our breathing cycle the most efficient for our use.

The first, ideal inhale is the one that yields the maximum expansion of the thorax. The most effective way to do this is to maximize the descent of the diaphragm and illicit the use of the primary rib cage elevators (more than just the intercostals) during inhalation. The first part is where relaxation of the abdominal muscles come into play. If the belly relaxes out, the internal viscera (otherwise known as your guts) move out with it, creating more space for the diaphragm to descend into. The second part makes use primarily of the external intercostal muscles, the interchondral portion of the internal intercostals, levator costarum, and serratus posterior superior. These guys all work together to obtain the maximum expansion of the thorax in the most efficient way for speech. (If you take part in “chest” breathing, you’re mainly only using the chest expansion without the diaphragm descent, so it just isn’t as effective as it could be.)  

The accessory muscles of the neck, mentioned in the second half of my last post, come into play either when you’re really needed some extra oxygen, like on the last leg of that marathon you’re training for, or during clavicular breathing.  This is associated with some pretty bad medical conditions, like COPD and neuromuscular disorders like ALS, but anyone whose had an asthma attack, anxiety attack, or ever had pneumonia have done a bit of clavicular breathing themselves. This gets the accessory muscles of the neck and back involved. In fact, in extreme cases of respiratory distress, patients tend to hold onto backs of chairs to try to get the pectoralis major to expand the rib cage. (Since that is not the primary function of that muscle, it’s considered a desperate move for the body to gain a little extra oxygen.) This is considered the most inefficient way for the body to breath, so why does the body do this if it’s so inefficient? Well, consider what happens to folks having an asthma attack where the airflow is obstructed. If the lungs cannot properly expand, then the muscles of inhalation won’t really work either, thanks to the relationship between the muscular function and the difference in air pressure.

Now the thing is, it’s not just in clavicular breathing that those accessory muscles of the neck can get involved, it is any time your body needs that extra oxygen elevating the rib cage affords.  Anyone who’s done any intense exercise  can tell you that the body basically uses a combination of all three of types of inhalation to get every bit of air you need.  Ever worked out in the morning and gone into the practice room in the afternoon and noticed your neck muscles were tight?  It’s very likely they were working during your work out too.  But, in singing inhalation, we don’t want the neck muscles to be involved, so I feel it is always a good idea to massage out those muscles after a workout before you practice to make sure they’re not getting in the picture.

High chest breathing comes into play biologically when we’re in a heightened state as well, such as the fight or flight response.  This is another reason a low, relaxed inhale should really be well-trained into the singer’s technique.  Those performance nerves can easily cause the body to tap into the wrong muscular balance.  I’ll get into that a bit later down this series, mainly when I talk more about the nervous system physiology, but I feel it warrants being mentioned here that the body has this ingrained, biological responses to certain stimuli.  Nervousness and anxiety can trigger the body to get the higher, clavicular and/or chest type of breathing involved when we don’t want it to be.  It doesn’t mean you have bad technique inherently, but it does mean you need to work on what triggers that response and try to counter it either with more muscular training, i.e. muscle-memory, or with relaxation techniques.  Whichever works for you!

Another thing I will get into more after going through exhalation anatomy and physiology is the laryngeal system’s role in the respiratory system.  But keep in mind until we get there:  The laryngeal system is a protective system biologically.  It is primarily a valve designed to keep food out of the lungs.  If you suffer from the “noisy inhale” issue some of us face at one point in our development, try slow, low, relaxed inhales through an open throat.  There should be absolutely no sound, even to you, as you breathe this way.  It is very possible that if you use too much of the accessory neck muscles during inhalation for singing, you are triggering the valve-effect of protection while you’re gasping away for air.  (I’m not sure as to why, but I suspect it could have something to do with wanting to protect you from inhaling large objects, like flying insects, into your lungs when breathing rapidly through your mouth.)  But if you know that it’s a biological function, it’s easier to discover how you will insight relaxed breath for yourself through a little trial-and-error in the practice room.


*Citation: Seikel, J. A., King, D. W., & Drumright, D. G. (2010). Anatomy and physiology for speech, language, and hearing. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.