Beginner

Crocodile Breathing

This DNS-style breathing drill resets how you use your diaphragm and deep trunk before any bracing or lifting. Lying face down gives feedback: you should feel the belly and low back push out into the floor and lap on each inhale, not the chest rising. It teaches the pressure-based core control that underpins a strong brace, and it doubles as a calming down-regulation drill.

Equipment
Body Weight
Body part
Abs
Type
Functional, Stretching
Muscles worked
Target
Abdominal External Oblique
Secondary
Lower Rectus Abdominals
Tertiary
Erector Spinae

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie face down with the forehead resting on stacked hands and the whole body relaxed.

  2. 2

    Breathe in slowly through the nose and feel the belly press down and the sides and low back expand.

  3. 3

    Aim for a 360-degree expansion around the waist rather than lifting the upper chest.

  4. 4

    Exhale slowly and fully, letting the trunk settle without clenching.

  5. 5

    Keep the shoulders, neck, and glutes relaxed throughout.

  6. 6

    Continue for several slow, quiet breath cycles.

Tips

  • Feel the low back and sides rise on the inhale, not just the belly.
  • Keep the breath slow and quiet; there should be no shrugging or chest heaving.
  • Use a long, relaxed exhale to settle before bracing work or between hard sets.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The breath speeds up into short, shallow cycles within the first minute, which defeats the point of a drill meant to slow things down.
  • The shoulders creep up toward the ears on the inhale, adding tension exactly where the drill is supposed to teach the body to let go of it.
  • The glutes clench to try to help the low back expand, when the expansion is supposed to come from the breath and pressure alone, not muscular squeezing.
  • Forcing a bigger belly push on each inhale, rather than letting the expansion happen naturally, turns a relaxation drill into a straining one.
  • The exhale gets cut short to rush into the next inhale, losing the settling effect that the long exhale is there to create.

Frequently asked

How long should a beginner do crocodile breathing, and how many rounds?
Do 1 to 2 rounds of 8 to 10 slow breath cycles, roughly 2 to 3 minutes total, either as a stand-alone calming practice or before bracing work. There is no real progression in reps here; the goal is staying relaxed and slow, so longer sessions matter more than more of them.
How do you make crocodile breathing easier or harder?
Make it easier by placing your hands under your forehead for more support and focusing only on feeling the belly press down at first. Make it harder by extending the exhale longer than the inhale once the full belly, side and low-back expansion feels natural, or by taking the same breathing onto all fours, where the floor no longer gives you feedback.
What is crocodile breathing good for, and when is it not the right tool?
It resets diaphragm and deep trunk control by giving direct floor feedback on where your breath goes, which underpins a strong brace and also works as a calming, down-regulating drill between hard sets or before bed. It will not do much for you if your goal that session is building strength or intensity, since this drill is specifically about slowing down and relaxing, not loading anything.

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