Breathing well is the first step in developing strength with length.  If you have a hard time maintaining the length of your spine when you’re standing still, how the heck are you going to make it happen when you’re bending forwards, backwards, sideways, and twisting?

One of the things that keeps Pilates exercises so challenging, regardless of how long you’ve been doing them, is the concept of developing strength with length.  The muscles of our abdominals and back are the ones that help provide the lift, length, and space between the ribcage and hip bones.

Here’s a video with a few thoughts on practicing better breathing habits to help improve your ability to be long and strong.  Start practicing this, and then learn how to apply it to all of your Pilates exercises (and other fitness exercises) to get maximum health benefits from your workout program.