by Gemma Delaney

Are you ready to revolutionize your workout routine with a fresh and innovative idea? Taking the fitness world by storm, breathwork has proven itself more than just a passing trend. It’s offering promising insights into how our breathing habits can not only boost physical performance, but also empower us to truly ‘own’ our movements while slashing the risk of injuries.

Breathe deeply, friends – we’re diving into the subtleties of how our internal structures steer the rhythm of our breath, and consequently, control our potential for fitness triumphs.

Our understanding of body mechanics unravels a fascinating tapestry of interconnected systems. Among the stars of this complex constellation is the diaphragm that acts as the gatekeeper of our breath, extending and contracting in perfect harmony with our needs. However, its game-changing role transcends pure conveyance of oxygen. Thanks to its unique placement and relationship with nearby organs like the liver and lungs, it subtly influences our overall stability and even leans us towards certain movement habits.

Generalizing fitness trends, we tend to observe more compression towards the back of our left ribcage and towards the front on the right. This leads us to prefer internal rotation on our right and external rotation on the left. The implications of this bias extend to our very steps, impacting both footfall and load-absorption. Consistent over-reliance on one mode of rotation could compromise our adaptability, culminating in grating micro-traumas and vexing injuries over time.

Breathwork: An Unexpected Hero of Strength Conditioning

Enter positional breathing: a choice companion for perfecting our dynamic dance between internal and external rotations throughout our bodies. For women seeking to take their fitness journeys to the next level, these exercises offer bespoke solutions, accommodating age brackets as broad as 10 to 80 years, all with a resounding impact.

Positional breathing isn’t just an antidote to stale exercise routines; it also empowers us with increased strength, agility, and resilience. Just a few months of incorporating positional breathwork can yield impressively tangible results, skyrocketing deadlifting capacities and even assisting in swift recoveries from debilitating conditions like lower-back pain and tight glutes.

Mastering Positional Breathing: Your Starter Pack

To harness the full potential of positional breathing, we recommend a simple exercise designed to gradually harmonize your breathing with your nervous system, bolstering overall alignment and efficiency. This technique, which should ideally feature throughout the day and especially during role-transitions, focuses on balanced foot placement, soft knee positioning, light inhalation, smooth exhalation, and a dedicated engagement of the oblique muscles.

Projects such as “Bear Plank”, “Glute Adductor Sliders”, and the “Left Hand Kettlebell Squat” serve as great starting points and are demonstrably beneficial in enhancing strength and range of motion, while also promoting efficient breathing.

Think of positional breathing not as a quick fix but as an immersive, whole-body exploration into the untapped terrain of fitness. Your journey starts with just a single breath. It’s time to elevate your performance with the profound power of your own gentle inhalations and exhalations.

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