Simple breathing exercises for COPD – help for shortness of breath, coughing & hyperinflation: Exercise 3 “Bow and Arrow while Sitting”

Physiotherapist Marlies Ziegler explains how respiratory physiotherapy for COPD works. In addition, she presents three simple breathing exercises. The exercises increase the ribcage’s flexibility and they can reduce shortness of breath, coughing and hyperinflation, as well make it easier to dislodge mucus from the bronchial tubes. This time she shows the exercise “Bow and Arrow while Sitting”.

This exercise mobilises the cervical spine and the ribs and stretches the pectoral muscles. This exercise is performed using a fluid movement and in sync with one’s breathing. How to do this exercise:

1. Starting position: Sit up on a stool next to a wall. Feet together. The right side of your body should lightly touch the wall.
2. Put your palms together, raise both arms up (a bit over shoulder height) and rest your right arm against the wall.
3. Inhale and slide your left hand a bit past your right hand.
4. Exhale and rotate your torso to the back. You can breathe out through your nose or using pursed lip breathing. While exhaling, move your left arm at chest level to your left costal arch and pull your elbow back and down. Imagine you are drawing a bow. Your right arm and your bottom should stay where they are while you perform this movement and not move. Make sure you do not shrug your shoulders and that they remain relaxed.
5. Inhale again. While inhaling move your left hand starting at the costal arch back to where it started and extend it past your right hand, which is against the wall.
6. 4 to 8 breaths per side.
7. Repeat the exercise on the other side.

• Simple breathing exercises for COPD – help for shortness of breath, coughing & hyperinflation: Exercise 1 “Standing Crescent Moon”
• Simple breathing exercises for COPD – help for shortness of breath, coughing & hyperinflation: Exercise 2 “Seated Rotation”

This article was written in cooperation with Marlies Zieger. She works as a physiotherapist in private practice in Munich. She specialises in respiratory therapy. She has been treating patients with chronic obstructive and restrictive airway diseases such as asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis (CF) and primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), for more than 20 years.

Note: The information in this blog post is not a treatment recommendation. The needs of patients vary greatly from person to person. The treatment approaches presented should be viewed only as examples. PARI recommends that patients always coordinate with their doctor and physiotherapist.