Recent studies have suggested that breathing type may affect balance ability. However, most of these studies were conducted on the elderly and patients with musculoskeletal or neurological disorders. Therefore, the effect of voluntary breathing, such as thoracic and abdominal breathing, on the balance ability of people in various age groups is not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in balance ability according to the type of breathing in healthy young adults. This study included 78 healthy, young adults. All subjects were assessed for balance ability in neutral breathing, thoracic breathing, and abdominal breathing through a crossover design. Balance ability was assessed during static standing using a force plate. Participants were trained in voluntary breathing, evaluated using electromyography. During voluntary breathing, sway velocity, anterior-posterior difference, and anterior-posterior standard deviation increased while anterior-posterior sample entropy decreased compared to neutral breathing (p < 0.05). Compared with thoracic breathing, abdominal breathing increased sway velocity and variability, and reduced complexity (p < 0.05). These findings show that balance ability is affected by breathing, even in healthy young adults.
Keywords: balance ability; breathing; healthy volunteers.