Pilates Breathing: How to Breathe During Each Move

If you've ever felt slightly baffled by an instructor calling out "inhale to prepare, exhale to move," you're not alone. Pilates breathing — specifically lateral (or "ribcage") breathing — is the engine behind every exercise, yet it rarely gets explained properly. This guide breaks down how to breathe sideways into your ribs, when to inhale and exhale during the classic moves, and how to stop holding your breath the moment things get hard.

Most of us breathe by pushing the belly out as we inhale. Pilates asks for something different: lateral breathing, where you draw air into the sides and back of your ribcage rather than ballooning the tummy forward. The idea is to keep a gentle sense of connection through your deep abdominal muscles while still taking a full, generous breath. Nothing is held rigid — you're simply breathing wide instead of down.

Why bother? Belly breathing pushes the abdominal wall outward, which works against the core stability Pilates is built on. Breathing into the ribs lets you keep that light core engagement throughout a movement, which may help you move with more control and protect your lower back. It also encourages fuller use of the lungs, so you feel calmer and less puffed mid-routine.

Before timing breath to movement, it helps to feel lateral breathing on its own. Try this seated or lying down, somewhere quiet — and go gently, never forcing the breath.

If you can't feel much at first, that's completely normal. The sensation is subtle, and it sharpens with practice over days, not minutes.

Here's the cue that unlocks almost every Pilates exercise: inhale to prepare, exhale on the hardest part of the move. The out-breath is when your deep core naturally switches on, so timing it with the effort gives you more stability and power exactly when you need it.

So in a curl-up (the Pilates version of a sit-up), you breathe in lying flat to get ready, then breathe out as you peel your head and shoulders off the mat. Lower back down on the next inhale. In the Hundred, you keep a steady rhythm — short breaths in for five pumps, out for five. The pattern flexes, but the principle holds: movement that challenges you rides on the exhale.

Once the golden rule clicks, you can apply it to the staple exercises. The exhale powers the lifting, curling or reaching phase; the inhale resets you for the next repetition.

A few quick mappings to get you started — keep them light and unhurried rather than gasping to hit the timing:

The most frequent error is holding your breath when an exercise gets tough — your face tenses, and the whole point of the breath is lost. If you catch yourself doing it, simply slow the movement down until you can breathe through it; speed will come later. Counting your breaths out loud for a few reps can break the habit.

Two other things to watch: forcing the breath until you feel dizzy (the breath should feel natural and unhurried, not strained), and lifting the shoulders towards your ears as you inhale — keep them heavy and wide. If breathing deeply ever brings on lightheadedness, ease right off and rest.

Lateral breathing feels awkward for a week or two, then it quietly becomes automatic. Spend a couple of minutes on the ribcage drill before each session, always warm up with some gentle mobility first, and let the breath set the pace of your movement rather than the other way round. Some people enjoy practising in a low-distraction setting — soft ambient sound and a calming backdrop can make it easier to tune into the rhythm of the breath.

Pilates is a practice, not a test. Listen to your body, progress slowly, and if you're pregnant, recovering from injury, or managing a medical condition, check in with a qualified instructor or your GP before starting or adapting any routine. Breathing well should leave you feeling steadier and calmer — if anything causes pain, stop and seek advice.

Master the breath and the movements follow: wide, easy ribcage breaths, exhaling into every effort, never holding on when it gets hard.

Be patient with yourself — within a fortnight of regular practice, breathing this way will feel like second nature, and your Pilates will feel stronger and calmer for it.