Best Breathing Mobilisation Before Running

Every run or any time of training session or exercise.

If there was only one breathing mobilisation I was going to do to help mobilise the ribs, the spine, the hips and to activate the diaphragm - this would be bit!

There is no better way to mobilise your ribs and create freedom for the movement of your diaphragm than to use your breathing to mobilise the ribs from the inside out.

The ribs connect into the thoracic spine and there directly impact the movement and mobility of the thoracic spine itself - which is keep to good upright running posture and for any rotation required during sports.

The movement and freedom of the ribs to move also directly impacts the movement of diaphragm (zone of apposition) and there the size of breath you are able to take and how easily you can expand the ribcage.

Not only that key muscles round your hips like Psoas Major and Quadratus Lumborum (QL) actually connect into the spine and diaphragm where they are connected by fascia. So you ribs and diaphragm will have a direct impact on your hips.

Finally specially for running, every time your foot contacts the floor you have to transfer those ground reaction forces through your trunk. If you are breathing efficiently with your diaphragm and good ribcage position (affected by your thoracic) then you transfer that force more effectively - because your diaphragm and breathing dynamics create stability within your trunk through the positive pressure it generates.

So when you use breathing mobilisation in your warms up like this one (there are others I love too, this is just the favourite one that 's simple to do and the athletes I coach love before running or training sessions), your positively affecting;

Try this one as part of your warm up before your next run or training session and see how it feel and the affect on your movement and breathing as your start running or training!

I hope you feel the same benefit the elite and professional international athletes I support after using this one!

If you like it and want to learn more - remember my most popular online course has had an upgrade 'Breathwork Mobility 2.0' which I'm teaching online via zoom starting 2nd February 2026.

Jacko