The Female Breath: What Makes It Different?

We all breathe, all day, every day. It is one of those things we rarely think about until something changes.

But there is something about women’s breathing that I find fascinating, and something I think women should know more about. Our respiratory system isn't exactly the same as a man's.

That doesn't mean women need a completely different way of breathing. It doesn't mean there is a special "female breath" that we all need to learn. But our anatomy and our hormones can influence the way our respiratory system works, and that can become particularly noticeable when we exercise, when our breathing demand increases and as our hormones change throughout our lives.

And I think this is something we should be talking about more.

Women have different respiratory anatomy

On average, women have smaller lungs and smaller central airways than men, including when comparisons are made between people of similar height. Women also tend to have smaller lung volumes.

That doesn't mean our lungs are less capable. It means that the respiratory system is working within a different physical framework.

When we are resting, these differences may be barely noticeable. But when we exercise and need to move much more air, the respiratory system has more work to do. Research suggests that these anatomical differences can contribute to greater respiratory muscle work and differences in breathing mechanics as exercise intensity increases.

This is one of the reasons I find breathing during movement so interesting. We often think about fitness as being about our heart, our muscles and our cardiovascular system, but breathing is part of the picture too.

As a woman myself, I've become increasingly interested in this because breathing is something I work with every day, both personally and professionally. And when you start paying attention to it, you realise how much our breath responds to what the rest of the body is doing.

Then there are our hormones

This is where women's breathing becomes even more interesting.

Our hormones don't stay at the same level throughout our lives, and they don't stay completely static throughout the month either.

During the menstrual cycle, changes in hormones, particularly progesterone, can influence ventilatory drive. Research has found that ventilation can increase during the luteal phase of the cycle, when progesterone is higher.

That doesn't mean every woman will notice a dramatic change in her breathing every month. We are all different, and the research isn't a reason to start changing your breathing technique according to where you are in your cycle.

It is simply another reminder that breathing isn't fixed.

Our respiratory system responds to the wider physiology of the body.

And those hormonal influences continue to change through different stages of life. Pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause can all bring further changes to respiratory physiology. I've already written about breathing through menopause in more detail, so I'm not going to repeat that here, but it is another reason why women's breathing deserves to be looked at across the whole lifespan.

So what can we actually do?

This is the part I find most useful.

Knowing that women's respiratory physiology is different isn't particularly helpful if we don't do anything with that information.

We can work on the things that are within our control.

We can encourage good rib cage mobility, so that the ribs are able to move freely rather than becoming restricted by posture and tension.

We can develop better awareness of the diaphragm and lower ribs, rather than relying heavily on the upper chest and accessory breathing muscles.

We can practise quiet nasal breathing, rather than habitually taking larger breaths than we need.

And we can become more aware of how much air we are actually breathing, particularly when we are at rest.

This is something I work with a lot in functional breathing. We often assume that a bigger breath must be a better breath, but healthy breathing isn't about taking in as much air as possible.

Our breathing needs to match what our body is asking us to do.

When we are resting, we don't need the same amount of air that we need when we are exercising. Being able to breathe quietly and comfortably at rest is one part of having an efficient breathing pattern.

For women who exercise, this becomes particularly interesting. As the demand for ventilation increases, we want a breathing system that can respond to that demand without becoming unnecessarily tense or effortful.

This doesn't mean that men shouldn't work on these things. Of course they can benefit from good rib mobility, diaphragm function, nasal breathing and efficient breathing too.

The difference is that when we're talking specifically about women, we can understand why these areas are worth paying attention to in the context of our own respiratory anatomy and physiology.

Try this with me

For this month's YouTube video, I've created a short functional breathing practice that brings some of these ideas into the body.

We'll explore what happens when you make your breathing a little quieter and lighter, rather than automatically trying to take a bigger breath.

This isn't about holding your breath or forcing yourself to breathe less. It's simply about noticing how much air you are taking in and exploring whether your breathing can become a little more comfortable and efficient.

You may notice a gentle desire to take a slightly bigger breath. That's okay. We're looking for a mild, comfortable sensation rather than anything strong or stressful.

And I'd love you to notice what happens afterwards.

Does your breathing feel quieter?

Does it feel easier?

Were you taking in more air than you actually needed?

These small observations can tell us a lot about the way we breathe.

If you'd like to try the practice with me, you can find the video here.

Breathing is part of being a woman

The more I learn about breathing, the more I realise that it isn't something separate from the rest of us.

Our breath responds to our anatomy, our hormones, our movement, our environment and the stage of life we're in.

Women don't need a special breathing technique simply because we're women. But understanding the differences in our respiratory physiology gives us another reason to become curious about our breath and how it responds to our changing bodies.

And perhaps the first step isn't changing your breath at all.

Perhaps it's becoming curious about it.