Seven Things You Should Know About Your Diaphragm

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​1.  Your diaphragm is a muscle.  While you don’t have to go to a diaphragm gym, you still need to train your diaphragm daily if you want it to function at its full capacity.


2. Diaphragm training must be isolated from vocalizing exercises.  When you go to the gym you used different machines for different muscles – and the diaphragm is a different muscle than the vocal chords for example – so plan to do independent exercises to isolate the muscle groups.


3. The diaphragm is an involuntary muscle and is best trained when your body is passive.  Unlike other involuntary muscles (like the heart which requires activity to train) the diaphragm is best trained with the body completely passive so there are no interferences.


4. The diaphragm supports your body and voice in both its contraction and in its release.  The diaphragm is like a bicep --- it has several parts which work together on both the inhale and on the exhale to keep you breathing!
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5. Training for the diaphragm will increase its dome.  When the diaphragm has a high dome, it supports a voice with significantly less effort from other muscles.


6. Using voluntary muscles to force air eventually weakens a diaphragm.  If you were to use a car to get around all the time and never walk, your leg muscles would get weaker.  Every structure in the body works like this.  Use it or lose it!


7. Throat and tongue tension release when the diaphragm is trained well.  When the dome of the diaphragm is higher, it releases the tension on the throat from the trachea.  



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Steven Flam is the developer of the groundbreaking teaching technique called BreathingRx For Singers which includes diaphragm target training. For more information or to debate the content of this article please contact him at [email protected]

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