I was invited to give a presentation on breathing mechanics to the coach forum that I belong to (The Scholar Program run by Steve Magness & John Marcus). The program itself has been an invaluable resource for me, especially as a relatively new coach in need of support, direction and guidance. So being asked to present was a humbling surprise and something that I have found really valuable. I spent the early part of last week mulling over how to structure presenting breathing mechanics and this in itself proved to be time well spent. Having to reflect on what I have learnt, to distill down into a format I could present was a process that I should do more often. It showed areas I was really confident in my knowledge and ability to explain – whereas other areas I felt far less certain of and made a mental note to go back and immerse myself in this again at a later date. It definitely reminded me of the adage around teaching that the best way to learn something is to then have to teach it.
After creating a presentation in the middle of the week I left it, came back to it at the weekend and begun to edit / shift and refine. I looked at the resources I used and begun to look at what could stay, what could go and what was good enough.
With that in mind I thought I’d post the presentation in 3 parts here. The first part is an overview of how / why we breathe.
