Hey folks, welcome to another video interview here at hackyourgut.com.  Today I have a guest who has written a book on breathing called Evolve your Breathing, my friend Jon Haas.  Jon is a personal trainer, martial artist, and owner of http://www.wariorfitness.org where he creates all sorts of great comprehensive exercise programs for people ranging from black belts to weekend warriors.

People have no idea how important proper breathing is for optimal health, especially for gut health.  Many of the muscles that allow us to breath also play roles in the digestive process, particularly gut motility. Last year a paper was published discussing how people with gut problems, specifically IBS, have abnormal muscle activation patterns in their breathing and core musculature.  For this reason, people with IBS often have symptoms that come with muscle imbalance including lower back pain, temporomandibular join dysfunction, chronic headaches, GERD, anxiety/depression, pain, and inflammation.

Diaphragmatic breathing is regularly used to help people with IBS by decreasing stress and improving muscle activation patterns in the abdominal muscles.  Check out these links to see how important breathing exercises can be for people with gut problems:

Healing IBS with Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic Breathing for GI Patients

Jon and I are colleagues, so when I saw him working with clients on breathing exercises, I knew people would be interested in his stuff.  His program is great and provides some excellent exercises to help develop proper breathing.  His other programs are also just great for developing strength and integrating your breathing with exercise.  Check them out!

If you’re interested in purchasing Jon’s program Evolve your Breathing, click here.

If you’re interested in his Integrated Strength Program, click here.

If you’re interested in his Stronger Over Forty, click here.