II’m a little ashamed to admit that it took me years to understand the importance of proper breathing in Pilates. I just thought my natural breathing was sufficient – ​​after all, I was breathing, right? There was always that moment when the instructor would ask, “Is everyone breathing?” I would nod, and without fail, someone in the class would respond with exaggerated theatrical breathing.

This cycle continued until one day an instructor came up to me during class and said, “You’re not breathing. » I was confused – I was breathing. I was alive, wasn’t I? But then she took the time to explain what breathing in Pilates actually meant, and that’s when everything changed.

Until then, I had reached a plateau. I would show up to class to check this off my schedule, but I didn’t see much improvement. Once I learned to breathe correctly, whether on the reformer or on the mat, my body became noticeably stronger and my whole body felt much more engaged. It turned out that no, it was no accident: breathing correctly during Pilates In fact makes all the difference.

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Why breathing correctly is important during Pilates

Did you know that on average we breathe 22,000 times a day? Although most of this breathing is done without a second thought, intentional breathing actually has many benefits when doing activities like Pilates.

“Connecting with breath and movement is an integral part of Pilates and can enhance the practice and support you through each movement,” explains Emma StallworthyPilates teacher and founder of Your reformer. “Usually, an inhale prepares your body (for movement) and the exhale is for when the most power or stability is needed.”

A little 2017 study¹ in the Journal of Physical Therapy Sciences put this idea to the test: Researchers asked one group of participants to breathe normally during a Pilates session and another group to follow a specific Pilates breathing pattern while performing the same set of exercises.

They found that the group who used Pilates breathing tactics had greater muscle activation in their core and back and had a reduced risk of core injuries than those who didn’t focus on how they breathed. (Learn more about how to breathe during Pilates in a second!)

“Not only does good breathing help engage your muscles better, but it also forces you to be more present and aware during training.” —Carrie Minter Ebers, Pilates instructor

How to breathe correctly during Pilates

Joseph Pilates (the inventor of Pilates) said: “First of all, learn to breathe correctly. And while he didn’t emphasize specific breathing techniques, different instructors have different methods. “Ideally, we encourage our clients to inhale for four to eight counts through their nose and fill their diaphragm as they prepare, then exhale through their mouth for four to eight counts,” says Carrie Minter-EbersPilates instructor and founder of Carrie’s Pilates.

Stallworthy prefers to coordinate breathing with movement. “Our bodies can function better when breathing is coordinated and supported by the power of movement,” she says. “For example, exhaling during spinal flexion movements promotes further flexion, and conversely, inhaling supports spinal extension as the rib cage opens and rises.”

What both trainers agree on is that you need to be able to adapt your breathing depending on the exercise you are doing. “For slower movements, like planks and pikes, you should exhale deeply as you come up and inhale as you lower your hips,” says Ebers. But things are still changing for movements like one hundred exercises.

“In this exercise, you inhale for a count of five beats and exhale for a count of five beats, repeating until you reach 100,” says Stallworthy. “This is a challenging exercise because you focus the breath laterally in your ribcage while maintaining abdominal engagement.”

Being able to follow and adapt your Pilates breathing to different exercises and their tempos may not come naturally at first, but if there is one mistake that is important to avoid, it is to not breathing at all or simply holding your breath (guilty!). Not only can this hinder your progress, it increases your risk of injury.

“So many people forget to breathe, breathe strictly through their mouth, or breathe irregularly with a lack of control,” says Ebers. “Not only does good breathing help engage your muscles better, but it also forces you to be more present and aware during training.”

Is there a difference between Pilates and yoga breathing?

Although yoga and Pilates are low-impact workouts that integrate breathing with movement, their breathing techniques are distinct. “Yogic breathing generally encourages the belly to fill with air, while Pilates focuses on expanding the rib cage during inhalation,” says Stallworthy.

In yoga, diaphragmatic breathing, or Pranayama, involves deep belly breaths in which your abdomen expands as you inhale through your nose. This ancient practice, which dates back more than 5000 yearsis designed to regulate breathing and promote mindfulness, relaxation and energy flow. As Ebers notes, “yoga breathing is often slower and creates a calming sound.”

Alternatively, Pilates follows rib cage breathing, where your breath is directed toward the sides of your rib cage while keeping your core engaged. In Pilates, you typically breathe through your nose when inhaling and exhale through pursed lips, which encourages core stability and muscle activation.

Much like how athletes adapt between different sports, transitioning between yoga and Pilates is entirely possible: it just requires adjustments to breathing techniques. “It can take a while to learn breathing,” says Stallworthy, adding that the main goal is simply to keep breathing throughout. Ebers agrees. “Once you master the flow of breathing, it increases the intensity, precision and mindfulness of each movement and helps you find your transformative power.”