SCHOOL OF BREATHING SCIENCES
104 Muscle Physiology & Breathing (1 credit unit)
Breathing serves respiration when muscles that regulate inhalation and exhalation are in concert with respiratory reflexes. These muscles must be balanced for normal respiration to occur and can be easily influenced by injury, pain and emotion. This course includes: Muscle anatomy – cellular physiology, gross anatomy, myofascial relationships; Physiology – aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, response to hypocapnia; Innervation – specific muscles used for breathing, situations that impact recruitment and mechanics; Pathomechanics – indicators of poor mechanics, effects on breathing when chest wall mechanics are altered through injury, posture, or habit, and when muscle timing and recruitment is negatively affected; Response to exercise – how breathing pattern changes to accommodate increased metabolic demands during exercise, optimizing the aerobic envelope during endurance exercise, impact of overtraining on breathing, relevance of breathing to optimal performance in sport.