Physiology of the breathing rest during speech – A cross-sectional study in vocally healthy adults
Abstract
Background
Various voice therapy concepts in German-speaking countries, such as the Schlaffhorst-Andersen concept or breath-rhythm-adapted phonation method (AAP) work on the breathing pause between exhalation and inhalation in order to help patients achieve an economical and powerful voice production. However, so far this key concept has not been sufficiently studied in a systematic and data-based manner. Internationally, the breathing rest is occasionally referred to as pre-inspiration. The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of the breathing rest during speech.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 28 blinded, vocally healthy adult women (n = 23) and men (n = 5) with a mean age of 28.5 (21 to 57) with multiple measurement time points was conducted. Muscle activity in the diaphragm was assessed by surface electromyography during inhalation, exhalation, and breathing rest using predefined criteria in relaxed and speech breathing (reading a list of single words). Using SPSS, we conducted a two-factor ANOVA with repeated measures for the mean values of the breathing phases (inhalation, exhalation, breathing rest) and breathing activity (relaxed breathing, speech breathing). Afterwards, we used Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons.
Results
ANOVA showed no significant differences between relaxed and speech breathing (p = .56). Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons revealed that the breathing rest was significantly different in mean values from inhalation (Mean = .87, SD = .2) and exhalation (Mean = .69, SD = .16, p < .001). In terms of duration, all breathing phases differed significantly from each other in relaxed (Mean = 1.59, SD = .86) and speech breathing (Mean = .34, SD = .12, p = .002).
Conclusion
Our study of German-speaking vocally healthy adults demonstrated for the first time a measurable breathing rest before an inspiration in both relaxed and speech breathing. Even though these results provide external evidence for working on and with breathing rests in voice therapy, these should be confirmed in a larger study.
© 2026 Christin Müller, Julia Lukaschyk, published by Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst, Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen
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