Supine Diaphragmatic Breathing
Why it matters
The Supine Diaphragmatic Breathing helps you move more freely through the positions your training demands.
How to do it
- Settle into the position and let your shoulders relax.
- Ease into the starting position without forcing the range.
- Set a comfortable position you can control before moving.
- Move to the first point of tension, not into pain.
- Ease slightly deeper on each exhale.
- Hold the end position briefly, then return smoothly to the start.
- Breathe slowly in through your nose and out for longer than you breathed in.
- Hold the bottom position still for a full count before you drive back.
Coaching cues
- Feel the breath expand your ribs sideways, not just lift your chest.
- The pause kills the bounce — each rep starts from a dead stop, not a rebound.
- Move to the first point of tension rather than into pain.
- Breathe out as you ease a little deeper into the range.
- Move smoothly and slowly rather than bouncing.
Watch out for
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Shortening the pause as the set gets hard.
This takes work off the target muscle and reduces what you get from the set.
Instead Count the pause out loud so every rep gets the same hold.
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Forcing or bouncing into an end range.
Forcing past your range fights the stretch instead of easing it and does little for mobility.
Instead Move slowly to gentle tension and let it ease with your breath.
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Holding your breath while you hold the position.
Holding your breath tenses you up and stops you easing deeper into the range.
Instead Keep breathing slowly and let each exhale ease you a little deeper.
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Snapping quickly from one rep to the next.
Snapping through reps skips the controlled range that mobility work depends on.
Instead Move slowly into and out of each repetition.
The detail
- Tempo
- Move slowly and hold positions rather than bouncing.
- Breathing
- Breathe slowly and use each exhale to relax a little deeper.
- Range of motion
- Work to a comfortable end range that eases over the set.
- If you are new to it
- Reduce the range and build gradually session to session.
- Once it is easy
- Add a gentle contraction at end range before relaxing deeper.