Have you ever considered your breathing as a form of movement? In the literal sense, it is the physical movement of air in and out of your body, but in a broad and practical sense your breathing is a part of every movement and position you occupy. Because breathing is a necessary part of life and (especially) physical activity, it should go without saying that your breathing skill in any given position and movement will have a direct and significant impact on your performance.

Consider the following factors: capacity, efficiency, and coordination.

Your capacity relates to how much air you can move. If your capacities are diminished depending on your position -- say, for example, that your capacity diminishes significantly in a squatting position -- then you are quite literally cutting off part of your fuel supply in that position. The same goes for hanging, pressing overhead, hinging, running, etc.

Efficiency refers to the tradeoff in energy expenditure and your breathing. Breathing requires muscular work, but how hard your muscles have to work for every breath, and how well your body uses the fuel contained within that breath, is a skill and a capacity just like strength or flexibility. Consider the difference in driving your car in third gear vs sixth gear. You may be moving at 55mph either way, but one gear is using a lot more fuel than the other. This is your efficiency.

Finally, coordination is your capacity to match and use your breath to your advantage in movement. Consider how the pace of your breathing matches your step cadence, or using your breath to brace in a deadlift. Coordinating the cycles of your breath with your movement will affect both your capacity and efficiency, and can be used to do everything from improve your posture to increase your deadlift 1rm.

How do you score in these three categories? Is your breathing helping or hurting your performance?

- PS

5/9/19

• Every 2 mins for 20 mins:

• 100m sprint

Then...

• For quality, accumulate:

• 40 glute ham raises

• 40 ab-wheel rollouts