3 Zones of Breathing: How to Improve Performance & Recovery | Dr. Andy Galpin & Jill Miller
In a Nutshell
The diaphragm is the foundation of efficient breathing, but modern life drives most people into chronic Zone 3 (neck/shoulder) patterns that create pain, poor posture, and recovery deficits. Prioritize Zone 2 breathing—ribcage expansion and rotation—through daily side-lying drills with a soft ball or block to restore proper rib mechanics and shift the nervous system toward parasympathetic dominance. Practice both morning and evening, extending the exhale to trigger spontaneous inhalation and reduce unconscious clenching during sleep.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Andrew Huberman's quote "Never skip diaphragm day" highlights the diaphragm's central role in human movement. The diaphragm is working if a person is alive, but this doesn't guarantee optimal function. Signs of dysfunction include intercostals not rhythmically moving well, inappropriate stiffness between the transverse abdominis and the diaphragm, or over-breathing using accessory breathing muscles.
Breathing is categorized into three distinct zones:
Zone 1 Breathing
Zone 1 involves the diaphragm descending with relaxing gut expansion, representing the most efficient breathing pattern.
Zone 2 Breathing
Zone 2 combines the intercostals with the diaphragm, involving rib upward rotation and rib downward rotation. This zone should be the primary breathing pattern for daily function.
Zone 3 Breathing
Zone 3 breathing uses the face, neck, and shoulders, creating a gasping pattern. This represents a sympathetic breathing style that becomes problematic when used chronically. While Zone 3 breathing occurs in situations like asthma attacks, panic episodes, or heightened states such as orgasm, it is not a sustainable long-term strategy for health.
Technology use contributes to Zone 3 breathing patterns through hand-to-eye positioning from holding cell phones and close work environments. This creates unnecessary armoring in the face, neck, jaw, eyes, shoulders, brachial plexus, hands, and fingers, disrupting efficient length-tension relationships across all three breathing zones.
Chronic indicators of Zone 3 breathing include:
- Chronic neck pain
- Jaw pain
- Headaches
- Hand pain
- Bruxism
- Migraines
- Sleep apnea
These symptoms correlate with unconscious mouth, jaw, and tongue behaviors during sleep that can be harmful.
Zone 2 work is prioritized before addressing shoulder positioning because proper rib cage upward and downward rotation is necessary for shoulders to sit correctly on the rib cage. Training uses sideline positions with Coregeous balls placed on the rib cage as elastic biofeedback tools. Practitioners breathe in side-lying and front-lying positions, placing the ball on the sternum to feel intrathoracic pressure changes.
Zone 3 breathing serves a purpose in emergency situations like crossing a finish line, but should not become the default pattern. Chronic Zone 3 positioning creates visible postural issues including shoulders pinned up, forward head posture, and rounded upper back.
This concept involves developing awareness of soft tissue feedback across the three breathing zones to make conscious choices about breathing patterns. The goal is building recovery resilience by filling the parasympathetic cup rather than overloading the sympathetic system. Pressure provides biofeedback about which zone serves as a person's primary breathing pattern.
A practical exercise uses a block or pillow under the head and a soft ball under the ribs in side-lying position. The sequence involves:
- Taking a dynamic Zone 2 breath that broadens the rib cage
- Holding the breath
- Stiffening and activating muscles that move the ribs apart
- Exhaling and releasing
Additional techniques include extending the exhale by "blowing out candles" after initial emptying to create absence of intrathoracic pressure that triggers spontaneous inhalation. Both sides should be practiced to improve costal vertebral joint mobility and thoracic spine rotation.
Daily practice is recommended, with both morning and evening sessions beneficial. Pre-bed exercises accelerate parasympathetic dominant states, potentially reducing unconscious nighttime clenching. Morning practice improves range of motion and reduces pain before workouts. Face, neck, and head exercises targeting the temporomandibular joint and temporalis muscle complement rib cage work, as these facial muscles share source nuclei in the brainstem with the vagus nerve.
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