Breathing for better strength: How your breath affects muscle engagement, stability and power

Your competent? doctor created a breathing protocol years ago based on these books, right? 

Like:

'Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art' by James Nestor. Published 2020

Or;

'The Oxygen Advantage: Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You Become Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter' by Patrick McKeown. Published 2016

Or should you be doing fast breathing in

Creation of nitric oxide via Breath of Fire  February 2014 

And why doesn't your doctor know a damn thing about a breathing protocol?

Your doctor has had years to know about this. Are you giving them a pass on being incompetent? So, you DON'T have a functioning stroke doctor, do you?

Oh no, YOU HAVE AN INCOMPETENT DOCTOR! What do you do? Call the president and demand some competence in the hospital! That means EXACT 100% RECOVERY PROTOCOLS! 

Breathing for better strength: How your breath affects muscle engagement, stability and power

By Dana Santas

7 hr ago 

See her videos at link.Optimize your breathing with these tips

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Dana Santas, known as the “Mobility Maker,” is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports. She is also the author of “Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief.”

During workouts, do you think about your breathing — or does it just happen in the background? Most people understand the importance of proper exercise form, yet they often overlook the significance of breathing technique.

How and when you breathe during strength training directly affects muscle engagement, core stability and power output as well as the position of your rib cage, spine and pelvis.

This final article in our five-part series brings together everything we’ve explored in targeted strength training for pain relief and better movement.

So far, we’ve covered how strength training helps your nervous system feel safe, how your obliques stabilize your spine, how your inner thighs support your pelvis and how your shoulder blades create the foundation for healthy upper body movement. Now, we’re focusing on the thread that connects them all: your breath.

How breath and strength connect

Your diaphragm isn’t responsible only for moving air in and out of your lungs. As a core stabilizing muscle, the diaphragm works with your pelvic floor, deep abdominals and back muscles to create postural alignment and internal abdominal pressure that support your spine.

When you breathe properly during exercise, you’re not just getting oxygen to your muscles — you’re actively engaging your body’s natural stabilization system.

Poor breathing habits during strength training can create multiple problems. Holding your breath increases blood pressure and reduces oxygen delivery to working muscles. Shallow chest breathing lifts your rib cage and elevates your shoulders with every breath, causing other muscles to compensate, which causes tension in your neck and upper back. And using the wrong phase of breath at the wrong time weakens your movements and increases your risk of injury.

The exhale advantage

Throughout this series, I’ve emphasized the importance of exhaling during the effort phase of exercises — and for good reason. Research shows that coordinating breath with strengthening movements teaches your nervous system that the position is safe, reducing protective tension and allowing you to access greater strength and pain-free movement.

When you exhale purposefully while working out, several beneficial things happen simultaneously — each connecting to the stabilizing systems we’ve explored in this series. Your diaphragm rises as your obliques and deep core contract to align your rib cage over your pelvis and stabilize your spine. Your pelvic floor naturally lifts, enabling a better connection with your inner thighs. And your scapulae can settle into a stable position on your rib cage.

This coordinated activation creates internal stability and alignment that allows your larger muscle groups to generate more force. The timing matters as much as the technique. Exhaling during the effort phase of movements allows you to actively create this stabilization effect when you need it most.

Using your breath to strengthen functional movements

Breathing properly during exercise ensures you’re actively engaging your body’s natural stabilization system.

Aaron Lockwood

The following four functional movement patterns serve as the foundation of both exercise and daily activities — pushing a door open, pulling groceries from a car, squatting to pick something up or rotating to reach behind you. The key to maximizing strength and stability in all of them is exhaling during the exertion phase. Remember to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth or nose — whichever feels more comfortable for you.

Pushing: When doing pushing exercises such as push-ups, overhead presses or bench presses, inhale to prepare, then exhale as you push. The exhale stabilizes your core and engages your serratus anterior, preventing your shoulder blades from winging (or sticking out) and allowing you to generate more pressing power.

Pulling: Whether rowing, doing a pull-up, or using resistance bands, inhale as you reach or hang, then exhale as you pull. Exhaling during the pull activates your rhomboids and mid-back muscles to draw your shoulder blades together while your engaged core stabilizes your spine against the pulling force, creating a stronger, more controlled movement.

Squatting: Inhale as you lower into the squat, exhale as you rise, feeling your ribs stack over your pelvis to support the movement. The exhale engages your deep core and pelvic floor, stabilizing your spine and pelvis while your adductors help control your leg position.

Rotating: Inhale to set your starting posture, then exhale as you rotate in movements such as wood chops, golf swings or spinal twists. The exhale engages your obliques to help control and power the rotation while also protecting your spine and lower back from excessive torque.

Here’s the one exercise our mobility coach says to do every single day

When to hold your breath — and when not to

While coordinated breathing is ideal for most exercises, brief, intentional breath holds can serve a purpose.

The Valsalva maneuver — taking a deep breath and holding it while bearing down — can create maximum intra-abdominal pressure to cushion the spine and protect the low back for specific exercises with significant loads, such as dead lifts or squats.

Only experienced weight lifters who understand the risks should use this technique, however. Prolonged breath holding increases blood pressure significantly and isn’t appropriate for those with cardiovascular conditions. For most people and most exercises, coordinated breathing patterns — rather than breath holds — are safer and more effective.