Statistically, unless medically contra-indicated, if you:

-Don’t eat for an hour

-Don’t drink for an hour

-Don’t sleep for an hour…

… You will be fine.

Try not breathing for an hour and get back to me (or have your next of kin notify me). On second thought, don’t try this, at home, at work, driving or at all!

“Lips together, teeth apart, from this rule thou shall not part” -Brett Jones

These words will always resonate with me as they were essential to proper movement by promoting relaxed breathing throughout my Indian Clubs certification a few years ago.

I call this post “breathing bandwagon” because there has been a lot of attention across the web and in the fitness community lately about proper breathing. Truth is, it’s not a bandwagon, a trend or a fad. It’s always been there. From your first moments on this Earth, to your last. I just choose to talk about it right now, that’s all.

My driving force for creating the SmartFlex™ was to promote better movement for everyone in a done-for-you type of activation. Better movement begets better performance and I frequently, as do my smarter peers, focus on establishing proper movement baselines. But it’s all for naught if your breathing is labored when it should be relaxed (anatomical, “matching the breath with movement”), or if you’re not applying a biomechanical (power breathing, more explosive) breathing match when tension strength is required (for a heavy bench press or deadlift, or a kiai! in martial arts).

Just like there are the right kind of tires or vehicles for the right conditions, there are various forms of breathing for various forms of training. Chest breathing vs belly breathing (diaphragmatic) are also on opposite end of the spectrum, respectively during stressful life-or-death situations — or in today’s world, job or environmental stressors like traffic — vs the relaxed breathing pattern of a baby, which I have the pleasure to observe daily with my 9-week old infant with envy.

I am not offering any in-depth explanations here. I rather invite you to research more on your own. I myself will be doing the same. Relaxed breathing patterns are what I choose to focus on for my personal goals: meditation, relaxation, tension & pain relief and even potentially promoting better hormonal balance (free testosterone), all of which I will discuss in future posts.