18/06/2026
Breathing Muscles and Movement Function
In physio therapy,strength and conditioning, muscles are often categorized according to the visible movement they produce: „shoulder muscles“ move the arm, trunk muscles stabilize the spine etc.
But from a functional perspective, this view is incomplete.
Many muscles commonly trained for movement and performance also contribute to respiration. The serratus anterior, pectoralis, intercostals, scalenes, abdominals, and several trunk muscles all participate in both breathing and movement.
Yet respiratory function is rarely considered when these muscles are trained.
The nervous system, however, does not organize movement according to anatomy textbooks. It organizes movement according to function.
Every breath is a whole-body event involving mechanical, sensory, and motor interactions. When muscles become more competent in all of their functions—including their respiratory role—the nervous system gains access to richer and more reliable information about the body’s internal and external state.
From a Predictive Coding perspective, better function means better prediction.
The brain continuously generates predictions about movement, stability, force production, and energy demands. These predictions depend on the quality of the sensory and motor information available to the system.
Improving the functional capacity of muscles involved in respiration may therefore provide benefits that extend beyond breathing itself. It may enhance the quality of the information used to guide movement, allowing the system to make more efficient and accurate predictions.
This is why respiratory muscle training should not be viewed simply as a tool to improve ventilation.
It is a way of addressing a fundamental component of human movement that is often overlooked in conventional strength and conditioning.
Quality matters
