Patterns of respiratory muscle tension among freedivers

[Ms Mer]

I'm currently studying therapeutic massage therapy and will be going on to study sports massage therapy. At some point I need to do a research project and because of my freediving, I'm interested in looking at the muscles involved in breathing. I'm some way off needing to formulate a hypothesis so at this point its about getting a sense if this is a topic worth looking into more but I'm interested in how respiratory muscles among freedivers may (or may not) be prone to tension, trigger points and differences in muscle development compared to people who don't use their respiratory muscles as actively.

Personally, in the past 12 months I have noticed an increase in tension and some persistent trigger points which I'm wondering is connected to my freediving and I wonder if there are some common patterns among freedivers. Has anyone else had or experiencing tension/pain in the neck (scalenes, sternocleidomastoid), jaw, diaphragm, intercostals, serratus anterior, pectorals and if so, have you noticed an association to increase in training/time spent diving? Forgive me if I have assumed too much prior knowledge of muscle groups. I figure this particular forum is the best one to post this on.

 

[growingupninja]

Eh, tough to say. My chest and lungs definitely feel wonderful after freediving/spearing/apnea training but it could have a lot to do with release of endorphins. Typically, when not diving I stretch my lungs and intercostals almost unconsciously throughout the day with large breaths (my at rest/unconscious breathing is very, very shallow), shoulder shrugs, isolation, etc, whatever. If I didn't do this I would feel rotten and suffocated. But I grew up a swimmer and then moved into martial arts and dance, which both place emphasis on flexibility. When I started training more seriously at apnea I might have felt the need to work tension out of my diaphram which resulted in me needing to stretch those muscles more, but I'm not sure.