How Proper Breathing Builds Better Strength and Lasting Power

• Your diaphragm does far more than move air — Your diaphragm — the dome-shaped muscle at the base of your lungs — works in unison with your pelvic floor, deep abdominals, and back muscles to form a stabilizing cylinder around your core. This muscle coordination maintains posture, protects your spine, and supports every physical movement. When you inhale properly, your diaphragm descends and creates internal abdominal pressure that supports your midsection.

When you exhale during exertion, your diaphragm lifts, your ribs align over your pelvis, and your spine gains a stable, supported structure. This dynamic movement enhances performance across all exercises — from pushing and pulling to squatting and rotating — by engaging your natural stabilization system.

• Improper breathing disrupts strength, balance, and oxygen flow — Holding your breath increases blood pressure and deprives muscles of oxygen, while shallow, chest-dominant breathing shifts the workload to your neck and upper back, creating unnecessary tension and fatigue.

Over time, these faulty patterns cause misalignment in your rib cage and pelvis, reducing stability and increasing injury risk. In other words, breathing through your chest makes your movements weaker and less efficient, while diaphragmatic breathing builds strength from your center outward.

• Exhaling during effort unlocks hidden power and stability — Santas describes what she calls the “exhale advantage,” a technique that involves exhaling during the hardest part of a lift or movement. This coordinated breath activates your core muscles — including your obliques and pelvic floor — which helps you maintain alignment under pressure.²

As Santas writes, exhaling during the effort phase “teaches your nervous system that the position is safe, reducing protective tension and allowing you to access greater strength.” This means you’ll be able to lift heavier, move more freely, and experience less pain simply by timing your breathing correctly.

• Different types of movements require specific breathing patterns — The CNN report breaks down four functional patterns that mirror everyday activities — pushing, pulling, squatting, and rotating.

• Short, controlled breath holds serve a specific purpose — Experienced lifters sometimes use the Valsalva maneuver — taking a deep breath and holding it while exerting force — to create temporary intra-abdominal pressure and protect the spine under very heavy loads.

However, this technique is only appropriate for advanced athletes with strong cardiovascular health. For most people, breath holds raise blood pressure too sharply and reduce oxygen flow. Coordinated breathing patterns are safer and far more effective for long-term performance.

• Integrating daily breathwork strengthens your mind-body connection — Santas advises practicing six conscious, diaphragmatic breaths daily to reinforce healthy patterns. Sitting tall with your hands on your ribs, you should feel them expand outward with each inhale and draw inward with each exhale.

She recommends extending the exhale slightly longer than the inhale to calm your nervous system and strengthen your diaphragm. Regular practice retrains your breathing to support every movement, both in and out of the gym, so your body feels more stable, energized, and confident with every step.

• Your breathing pattern reveals how well your core actually works — Many people assume their breathing happens correctly by default, yet small imbalances in the way your ribs, diaphragm, and pelvis move together disrupt everything from posture to muscle activation.

Duke teaches clients to test their breathing by lying on their back with knees bent, placing hands on their lower ribs, and noticing whether those ribs expand outward during inhalation. If movement happens only in the chest or shoulders, it means your diaphragm isn’t working efficiently — a red flag for poor core function.

• Correct breathing balances your rib cage, pelvis, and spine for pain-free movement — Shallow or misaligned breathing alters how your diaphragm, pelvic floor, and abdominal wall coordinate. This causes tension in your lower back, shoulders, and neck because those muscles compensate for the lack of true stability. This “chain reaction” disrupts how your ribs and pelvis align, leaving you feeling tight or off-balance during workouts.

By retraining your breath to move your ribs laterally — meaning outward rather than upward — you restore internal pressure that stabilizes your spine and prevents strain. Over time, this builds a more resilient posture and reduces the likelihood of recurring pain during lifting or daily movement.

• Posture problems usually begin with faulty breathing, not weak muscles — Common postural imbalances are linked to poor breathing habits. The most frequent issue is an anterior pelvic tilt — when your pelvis tips forward, exaggerating the curve in your lower back.⁴

This restricts your pelvic floor muscles from expanding properly and forces your abs and back muscles to overcompensate. Another frequent pattern is excessive rib rotation, where one side of your rib cage flares outward more than the other.

This throws off diaphragm function and weakens your spinal stabilizers, setting the stage for chronic pain. Correcting these subtle misalignments through breathwork restores balance throughout your musculoskeletal system, often resolving pain that traditional strength training fails to address.

• Small daily practices lead to big long-term changes — For example, taking time each day to lie down and practice diaphragmatic expansion under your ribs re-educates your nervous system and reinforces posture awareness.

These short sessions, when performed consistently, lead to lasting improvements in balance, mobility, and coordination. For people recovering from chronic tension or limited mobility, this approach transforms breathing from a passive act into an active form of training that strengthens both your body and mind.

• Your body already knows how to breathe — problems begin when you override it — Litchfield explains that your body’s breathing reflex is self-regulating and naturally efficient. Trouble starts when stress, trauma, or habitual tension lead you to override that rhythm.

Over time, you unconsciously develop dysfunctional patterns such as chest breathing, chronic sighing, or overventilation — breathing too deeply or too often. These habits upset the delicate balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO₂), causing the very fatigue, anxiety, and imbalance you’re trying to fix.

• Overbreathing reduces oxygen, even when you think you’re taking in more air — Deep breathing feels healthy, but when overdone, it drops your CO₂ levels too low — a condition known as hypocapnia. This triggers vasoconstriction, or tightening of blood vessels, which cuts off blood flow to your brain and muscles.

As a result, your red blood cells cling to oxygen instead of releasing it to the tissues that need it most. You end up with less oxygen where it matters, even while taking bigger breaths. It’s like flooding an engine with fuel — the system gets too much input to function efficiently.

• Carbon dioxide keeps your blood vessels open and your energy steady — Carbon dioxide is your body’s most reliable vasodilator — it naturally keeps blood vessels relaxed and open. Many people rely on nitric oxide for this effect, but nitric oxide has a dark side: it interferes with your mitochondria, slowing energy production at the cellular level. CO₂, by contrast, supports mitochondrial function and helps maintain smooth, efficient energy output.

When your CO₂ drops from overbreathing, your blood vessels constrict, your energy crashes, and your brain loses oxygen — the exact opposite of what deep breathing is supposed to do.

• Overbreathing alters brain chemistry and triggers emotional release — When your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen and glucose, neurons switch to a less efficient energy process, producing lactic acid and changing brain chemistry. Litchfield notes that this shift causes “disinhibition,” a sudden surge of emotions like anger, fear, or panic.

In the short term, this emotional release feels like relief, reinforcing the behavior. But it also hardwires the habit — making overbreathing a learned coping mechanism tied to stress, rather than a healthy breathing pattern.

Many people develop dysfunctional breathing in response to emotional trauma or chronic stress. When those memories or sensations resurface, your brain reactivates the same breathing response, dropping CO₂ again.

The lower your CO₂, the more tension, dizziness, and anxiety you feel — and the more you try to “breathe through it,” unintentionally deepening the imbalance. Maintaining healthy CO₂ levels supports both physical performance and emotional stability far more effectively than trying to “breathe it out.”

• A quick rescue method restores balance when you overbreathe — Litchfield recommends a simple test to confirm CO₂ deficiency: breathe slowly into a paper bag (never plastic) for several breaths.

The trapped air allows CO₂ to build back up, often relieving symptoms such as dizziness, tingling, or lightheadedness within seconds. Use a medium-sized paper bag, about six by 15 inches, and stop once symptoms subside. It’s not a long-term solution but an effective way to reset your chemistry when you’ve unintentionally overventilated.

Litchfield emphasizes that healthy breathing isn’t about forcing deeper or slower breaths — it’s about trusting your body’s built-in intelligence. When you stop micromanaging your breath and allow natural rhythm to return, your CO₂ stabilizes, your blood flow improves, and your energy steadies. This is the foundation of true respiratory health — learning not to breathe more, but to breathe better.

1. Rebuild your breathing awareness daily — Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your ribs. Breathe gently through your nose, noticing where your body moves. Your ribs should expand outward as your belly softens — not your chest or shoulders.

If you feel tension in your neck, you’re overbreathing. Keep your breath light and unforced for five to 10 minutes, several times a day. This rebalances your CO₂ levels and restores the natural rhythm your body already knows.

2. Pair every movement with purposeful, balanced breathing — Whether you’re lifting, reaching, or standing up, exhale during the effort. This activates your deep core muscles, aligns your ribs over your pelvis, and stabilizes your spine. Avoid holding your breath or forcing a big inhale before moving. Instead, breathe smoothly — inhale to prepare, exhale through the hardest part — keeping your breath calm and rhythmic rather than exaggerated.

3. Correct your posture through breath-driven alignment — Poor posture often comes from disrupted breathing mechanics, not weak muscles. Instead of bracing your abs or pulling your shoulders back, use your breath to create natural alignment. Focus on gentle rib expansion on the inhale and a soft narrowing on the exhale. Over time, this trains your diaphragm and pelvic floor to work together, restoring effortless stability without tension in your back or neck.

4. Use short breathwork sessions to reset your nervous system — Set aside a few minutes daily to take light, slow breaths while sitting upright. Inhale through your nose for four counts, pause briefly, and exhale gently through your mouth for six. Avoid taking large or forceful breaths — the goal is to maintain steady CO₂, not to over-oxygenate. This slower rhythm engages your parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) system, lowering stress, improving focus, and helping your muscles perform efficiently.

5. Integrate conscious breathing into daily movement — Once breathing awareness feels natural, bring it into your workouts and daily tasks. Practice gentle nasal breathing during walking, stretching, or strength training. You can even place a small book on your abdomen during practice to observe balanced movement — not big belly rises. The more often you practice rhythmic, relaxed breathing, the more stable, energized, and clear-headed you’ll feel.