Breathing, Mobility, and Performance: Why Mobility Starts With Your Breath
By Ed Feliciano | Personal Trainer NYC | Performance Coach
Most people treat mobility like a flexibility problem.
Tight hips? Stretch.
Stiff shoulders? Stretch.
Low back always locked up? Stretch harder.
But in many cases, mobility limitations start with breathing, not stretching.
If your breathing mechanics are off, your body changes how it moves, stabilizes, and generates force. Tightness is often a symptom, not the root cause.
How Breathing Changes Your Body Shape
Your rib cage is not fixed.
With every breath, it should:
Expand forward, sideways, and backward on the inhale
Recoil and return over the pelvis on the exhale
A good inhale creates space.
A good exhale restores position and control.
When this expansion and recoil don’t happen well, the body finds motion somewhere else, usually the spine, hips, or shoulders. That’s where stiffness, instability, and chronic tightness show up.
Understanding the Infrasternal Angle (Without the Jargon)
The infrasternal angle (ISA) is simply the angle at the bottom of your rib cage. You don’t need to measure it, just recognize the pattern.
Wide ISA Pattern
Common characteristics:
Ribs flared upward
Chest held high
Difficulty fully exhaling
Low back tension
Inconsistent core bracing
Narrow ISA Pattern
Common characteristics:
Ribs pulled down
Limited chest expansion
Shallow breathing
Neck and shoulder tension
Conditioning feels restrictive
Neither pattern is “bad.”
They’re just different starting points, and they require different breathing strategies.
Why Breathing Directly Affects Mobility
Effective mobility requires two things:
Space
Control
Breathing influences both.
If you can’t inhale into the rib cage, you can’t create space.
If you can’t fully exhale, you can’t control position.
That’s why stretching alone often fails, you’re changing muscle length without fixing the environment those muscles live in.
Simple Breathing Strategies Based on Your Pattern
If You Tend Toward a Wide ISA
Focus on restoring control:
Long, slow exhales
Let the ribs come down and slightly in
Brief pause after the exhale before inhaling
Think pressure management, not more effort
If You Tend Toward a Narrow ISA
Focus on creating space:
Slow nasal inhales
Expand the sides and back of the rib cage
Allow expansion without forcing posture
Think space first, control later
The goal isn’t perfect breathing lying on the floor.
It’s better breathing during real movement and stress.
Why Breathing Matters for Performance
Breathing determines how well you manage internal pressure.
Pressure management affects:
Strength output
Stability and bracing
Endurance and conditioning
Recovery between efforts
Injury risk
When breathing improves:
Mobility often improves without stretching
Lifts feel more stable and repeatable
Conditioning feels controlled instead of chaotic
Fatigue builds more slowly
Recovery between sets improves
Performance stops feeling like survival.
The Takeaway
Breathing isn’t just about oxygen.
It:
Shapes your rib cage
Influences how you move
Determines how calm or stressed your system feels under load
If mobility feels limited or performance feels inconsistent, don’t just ask what should I stretch?
Ask: How am I breathing?
Because breathing is a trainable pattern and it changes everything downstream.
Ready to Train Smarter, Not Harder?
If you’re a busy professional looking to perform at your best without burning out, I can help you design a program that fits your schedule and delivers real results.
Learn more or request a consultation at edfeliciano.com