Specialist article: body and posture
NeuroathleticsPerformance begins with the basics
Neuroathletics brings the nervous system into training. Here you will learn why breathing, swallowing and head balance are its foundation, what studies show about the diaphragm and nasal breathing in sport, and how to train the basics so that they hold up under exertion too.
Does this sound familiar?
The strength is there, but you run out of air sooner?
What applies to you?
Tap whatever applies to you.
If several points apply, it is worth looking at what lies beneath your training. In our view, a lot depends on breathing, swallowing and head balance. They work together as a pattern, and patterns can be trained.
Why the diaphragm has two tasksNasal breathing under exertionThe key points at a glance
- Neuroathletics brings the nervous system into training. The idea is right, but it needs a foundation.
- In our view, this foundation is breathing, swallowing and head balance. They run alongside every movement, and how well they run helps determine how much reserve you have left under exertion.
- Nasal breathing also belongs in exertion, for as long as possible. In small studies, peak performance remained the same with nasal breathing. At full exertion, the mouth may join in.
Video
Neuroathletics: basic functions are a prerequisite
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Term
Neuroathletics: the nervous system trains too
Neuroathletics has arrived in many gyms. The idea behind it is right, but it often skips a step.
Every movement is planned, started and continuously corrected in the nervous system. Muscles carry out what the brain and spinal cord specify, and they report back what happens in the process. Neuroathletics takes this idea seriously. It supplements strength and endurance training with exercises for the eyes, balance, body awareness and breathing, so that control is better matched to the task.
This is where our objection comes in. Before a drill for the eyes or balance can take effect, the nervous system has to solve three tasks that it may never suspend: breathing, swallowing and holding the head in space. In our view, how well this succeeds helps determine how much control is left for everything else.
Three functions are already there before the next load arrives. Breathing, swallowing, head balance.They run alongside the sprint, the serve and the deadlift. That is why they belong at the start of any training that takes the nervous system seriously.
The triad
The basis of every performance: breathing, swallowing and head balance
In the book “Trust the Triad”, Dr. Klaus Berndsen calls these three functions primary functions. They stand at the beginning of all the capabilities on which the body builds.
Breathing
Supplies every cell with oxygen. Through the nose, the air is warmed, moistened and filtered. The diaphragm breathes and at the same time stabilises the trunk.
Swallowing
Many hundreds to a thousand times a day, the tongue settles against the palate and the lips close. This seals the mouth and keeps nasal breathing possible.
Head balance
The head carries the eyes and the organ of balance. When it is balanced over the body, the reference data for every movement are correct.
These three functions cannot be substituted or suspended. They run at every moment; the only question is how well. If one of them runs out of adjustment, the other two also settle in a deviating way, because they are coupled as a circuit, not as a chain.
The pattern deviates
Mouth breathing, a low-lying tongue or a head that drifts forward. This often begins in childhood.
The body compensates
Accessory muscles in the neck and shoulders step in. The nervous system stores the compensation as a preferred pattern.
Posture and tension change
The neck holds more, the trunk works differently, breathing becomes shallower. In everyday life this is hardly noticeable.
Under exertion it becomes visible
The reserve is used up sooner. In our view, in many athletes this shows up as an early switch to mouth breathing, a stiff neck or an unsteady trunk.
Like a computer’s operating system
If the operating system is busy with compensation work, even the best application stutters. In our view, technique, tactics and neuroathletics drills are such applications. Breathing, swallowing and head balance are the system on which they run.
In our experience, the coupling of breathing, swallowing and head balance is rarely taken into account in sport. If you follow this logic, a stable basic pattern can create the conditions for endurance, coordination and recovery to benefit, because breathing no longer has to compensate via the mouth.
Trunk and breathing
The diaphragm has two tasks
When people think of breathing, they think of the lungs. But the most important breathing muscle is also a postural muscle.
The diaphragm spans like a dome beneath the ribs. When you breathe in, it lowers and draws air into the lungs. Together with the abdominal muscles and the pelvic floor, it also forms the shell of a pressure space that supports the spine from within.
When you move your arms or legs quickly, this pressure space has to secure the trunk while breathing continues. The nervous system assigns both tasks to the same muscle at the same time.
of its strongest inspiratory activity was maintained by the diaphragm even during exhalation, as long as four test subjects moved their arms quickly. When standing still, this was absent1
breathed through an extended breathing tube in a follow-up study, and their need for air rose. After about one minute, the postural activity of the diaphragm and the transverse abdominal muscle was markedly smaller or absent2
The authors interpret this as follows: when the drive to breathe rises, the postural commands to the diaphragm are dampened, and breathing takes priority. For sport, in our view, this means that the trunk loses stability when breathing comes under pressure. Anyone who already breathes shallowly, quickly and through the mouth at rest reaches this point sooner. You can read more about the pressure space in the article on pelvic floor training.
Breathing control
What controls breathing under exertion?
During sport you breathe faster and more deeply. It feels like a response to a lack of oxygen. In fact, several signals run in parallel.
As soon as the brain starts a movement, it sends an accompanying signal to the respiratory centre in the brainstem. Physiology calls this central command. In addition, fine nerve fibres from the working muscles report back tension and metabolism. A research group in Wisconsin deliberately dampened this feedback in cyclists. The men then breathed too little in relation to the carbon dioxide produced, and at high load their oxygen saturation dropped slightly3.
less breathing in relation to carbon dioxide was shown by five cyclists when the feedback from their leg muscles was dampened3
of the oxygen taken up went to the legs in seven cyclists under maximum exertion. When they had to perform more breathing work, it was 71 %, with unloaded breathing muscles 89 %4
The second finding comes from the same laboratory. When the work of the breathing muscles was artificially increased at maximum exertion, the blood vessels in the legs narrowed, and the legs received less blood and oxygen4. Breathing therefore competes with the working muscles for the same resources.
Breathing is not a sideshow. It is part of performance.In our view, the more economical the breathing pattern, the more is left for the movement itself. Economical means a sequence in which breathing, swallowing and head balance fit together.
Nasal breathing
Nasal breathing also belongs in exertion
Opening your mouth during sport feels natural. The question is when.
The nose warms, moistens and filters the air, and nitric oxide is produced in the paranasal sinuses and reaches the lungs with nasal breathing. Swedish researchers measured a 10 % higher oxygen pressure, measured through the skin, with nasal breathing than with mouth breathing, in six out of eight healthy people5.
Under exertion, the body at some point switches to nose and mouth at the same time. When this happens varies greatly.
was the average load at which 20 of 30 adults switched from pure nasal breathing to nose and mouth. Five breathed only through the nose throughout the entire exercise test6
reached, in an Australian study with pure nasal breathing, a level of exertion sufficient for an aerobic training effect7
The studies also show the limit. With pure nasal breathing, maximum breathing capacity fell considerably more than maximum oxygen uptake7. At full exertion, the mouth may therefore join in. In the most recent study, participants perceived the sprint with nasal breathing as somewhat less strenuous, and their muscles reoxygenated faster afterwards9. These are small studies, not a promise for your personal best.
Nose for as long as possible
- The air is warmed, moistened and filtered
- Nitric oxide from the paranasal sinuses reaches the lungs
- The pace is set by the nose, not the other way round
Mouth from the start
- Dry, cool air hits the airways directly
- The nose’s filter is bypassed
- In our view, the pattern also becomes established for rest and sleep
At full exertion, the mouth joins in for many people. What matters is how long the nose carries the load before that.
In our view, the nose is the intended route for the air we breathe, at rest and at light exertion, and the mouth a side entrance for great exertion. Anyone who already breathes through the mouth in everyday life or during sleep has usually replaced nasal breathing with a compensation. This compensation becomes consolidated as a pattern and does not change through resolution, but through training.
When do you open your mouth during easy running?
Head balance
The head leads, the body follows
Neuroathletics works a lot with the eyes and balance. Both are located in the head, and this has consequences for the whole posture.
The head houses the senses that orient us over distance, above all the eyes and the organ of balance. Their signals only produce a reliable picture if the brain knows how the head is positioned in space. As early as 1924, the Utrecht physiologist Rudolf Magnus described the reflexes through which the neck, trunk and pelvis align themselves according to the position of the head10.
In short, the head sets the direction and the body follows it. This becomes especially clear in turns, jumps and landings.
Eyes
Provide the picture of the surroundings. To interpret it correctly, the brain has to know how the head is positioned at that moment.
Organ of balance
Measures gravity and rotation, relative to the skull. If the head tilts, its reference data shift.
Deep neck muscles
The short muscles beneath the back of the head continuously report how the head is positioned relative to the trunk. They are regarded as stabilisers and control elements of the head11.
The brain reweights these channels depending on the situation. In measurements from Portland, test subjects relied more heavily on the organ of balance the more their support surface tilted12. If the head constantly hangs in front of the body, the neck muscles work as a holding apparatus instead of as fine sensors. In our view, eye and balance drills then lose part of their foundation. More in the article on neck and back.
Swallowing and jaw
Swallowing and jaw closure: the underestimated part
Hardly anyone in sport talks about swallowing. Yet it is running all the time.
You swallow many hundreds to a thousand times a day. With every swallow, the tongue settles against the palate, the teeth touch briefly, and the lips close. Afterwards, the tip of the tongue returns to its reference point behind the upper front teeth, into the tongue reference position.
This seals the mouth, and the air takes the route through the nose. Swallowing is therefore a precondition for calm nasal breathing.
The jaw is also part of posture. A research group in Karlsruhe had twelve young adults catch a forward fall with a lunge step. Bite force rose between release and the foot touching down, even when the jaw was actually supposed to stay relaxed13. The authors see clenching as part of the natural repertoire with which the body supports its movement.
In a second study with 48 physically active adults, those who clenched their teeth lightly kept their balance better on a swinging platform in one of four directions14. The effect was small and depended on the task; tongue pressure alone showed none. Constant pressing is not part of this; more on this in the article on TMD and the jaw joint.
Briefly biting down is part of the pattern. Constant pressing is compensation.In our view, the brief tooth contact during swallowing and stabilising is part of the normal sequence. Anyone who constantly presses their teeth together is, in many cases, compensating for a lack of stability elsewhere.
Context
Putting neuroathletics exercises and breathing techniques in context
Eye drills, balance boards, breathing programmes with breath-holding: the range on offer is large, and much of it provides useful stimuli. The question is on what foundation.
Exercises for eye movement, balance and body awareness challenge control and provide new stimuli. But they work with the nervous system that is there at the time. If breathing, swallowing and head balance are running in a compensation pattern, in our view the drill also trains this pattern to some extent. That is why the basic functions belong at the start.
We see breathing techniques such as Buteyko, Oxygen Advantage, carbon dioxide tolerance exercises or hypoxia training in a similar way. They provide targeted stimuli to which the body responds with known adaptation programmes, and they mainly train conscious breathing. The automatic pattern that runs at night, in conversation and in the final sprint often remains unaffected, because the tongue, swallowing and head balance are not trained along with it.
Breathing technique as an exercise
- Targets breathing alone
- Often works with breath-holding and oxygen deprivation as a stimulus
- Depends heavily on you practising consciously
Training the basic functions
- Practises breathing, swallowing and head balance in one sequence
- Aims at a pattern that runs without thinking
- In our view, creates the foundation on which other methods build
The two approaches can be combined. Exercises with long breath-holding never belong in or near water, nor in situations in which a brief blackout would be dangerous.
With breathing techniques such as Buteyko, according to the studies, what probably works is less a higher CO2 level, which could hardly be demonstrated, than the switch from hectic mouth breathing to calm nasal breathing. We consider treating CO2 as a healing substance to be a mistake, because the body keeps it tightly regulated. Hypoxia intervals are a stress stimulus for the cells and do not change a breathing pattern, and in heart, lung or sleep apnoea conditions, the threshold to overload is quickly exceeded.
Anyone who only trains breathing is not training breathing.From the book “Trust the Triad”. Breathing is coupled with swallowing and head balance, which is why, in our view, it only changes lastingly when all three are trained together.
We do not recommend taping the mouth shut at night or during training to force nasal breathing. The tape closes the mouth mechanically, while the pattern behind it remains. You can read why in the article on mouth taping.
Research
What is proven and what is not
Honesty is part of this, especially in a field in which a lot is promised.
The studies in this article investigate the diaphragm, breathing control, nasal breathing, head balance and the jaw, not the FaceFormer. They support the idea that the basic functions play a role under exertion. Whether training them changes athletic performance has not been tested by this.
took part in 2003 in a small observation with treadmill tests, reported on by the magazine RUNNING. It is a magazine report without statistics and without individual data, so it does not support any statement about performance15
trained with the FaceFormer for six months in a Frankfurt study, after which their upper body was measurably less inclined. This says nothing about athletic performance16
The absence of a study does not mean that the connection does not exist. It means that it has not been tested.This applies to other people’s studies as much as to our own. Both belong openly on the table.
A fair test would need to clarify whether training was carried out correctly, whether the basic functions changed first and whether the study ran over several months. More on this on the Studies and science.
Training
Training the basics: from the exercise plan to exertion
A breathing pattern cannot be decided upon. You can resolve to breathe through your nose, but on the next climb the mouth takes over anyway. Patterns change through precise, frequent repetition. FaceFormer training therefore practises lip closure, nasal breathing, tongue reference position, swallowing and head balance in the same sequence, three times a day for a few minutes. In our view, this creates the precondition for the pattern to hold up under exertion too.
From about week 6, the breathing exercise is added. You place one hand on your abdomen, breathe in through your nose for six seconds, hold your breath briefly, bite down once and swallow, and then breathe out for six seconds.
You extend the breathing pause afterwards in small steps, only as far as is comfortable.
- From day 1
Basic exercise
Three times a day for a few minutes with the FaceFormer ZERO.
- From around week 3
Pull exercise and night
The pull exercise is added. At night you wear the FaceFormer ZERO as soon as you have mastered the basic exercise.
- After a few weeks
Switching to the ONE
During the day you train with the ONE, the same size as the ZERO, just made of a firmer material.
- From around week 6
Breathing and head balance
The breathing exercise and head balance rotation are added. Doing both in one sequence is for advanced users, ideally in consultation with a practice.
- Over months
Into exertion
Easy sessions with nasal breathing, tongue reference position and a balanced head. The exercise manual expects six to twelve months until the pattern runs without thinking, followed by maintenance training.
The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises; all modules are on the exercise pages, including the head balance rotation. If you train with a practice, it can adapt the plan to your sport. If you use an asthma spray or other medicines on medical advice, do not stop them on your own; discuss changes with your doctor’s practice instead.
Everyday sport
The basics in everyday sport
Warm up through the nose
Use the first few minutes of every session for pure nasal breathing. The pace is set by the nose.
Easy sessions as nose training
Base runs or easy cycling are suitable for nasal breathing. Intervals and competition stay as they are.
Head over the body
When running, on the bike and at the barbell, the head balances over the trunk and the gaze is directed forward.
Use drinking breaks
Every swallow is a small exercise. Lips closed, tongue to the palate, then swallow calmly.
Do not hold your teeth together
Brief tooth contact when swallowing and at the moment of stabilisation is normal. Pressing with every repetition is not.
Wind down after training
In our view, a few minutes of calm nasal breathing with long exhalations help with switching to recovery. More in the article on the vagus nerve.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is neuroathletics?
A training approach that deliberately includes the nervous system. Alongside strength and endurance, the eyes, balance, body awareness and breathing are trained. In our view, the first step is often missing: the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance.
Should I breathe through my nose during sport?
As long as possible, yes. In our view, the nose is the intended route for the air we breathe, and the mouth a side entrance for great exertion. At light and moderate exertion, the nose can carry the breathing in many people if they are used to it. At high exertion, the mouth joins in; that is normal. Anyone who already breathes through the mouth at rest does not change this through resolution, but through training.
Do I lose performance with nasal breathing?
In two small studies, peak performance in the 30-second sprint test remained the same with nasal breathing. At maximum endurance exertion, the nose limits breathing capacity, and there the mouth may help. How far the switching point shifts with practice has been little studied.
Can I wear the FaceFormer during sport?
The core of the training is the exercises three times a day and the night. After the first one to two weeks, some people also use the FaceFormer during calm, steady exertion, such as easy running. This feels very unfamiliar at first. In combat and contact sports, a sports mouthguard belongs in the mouth, not the FaceFormer.
Does mouth taping help you breathe through your nose during sport or at night?
We do not recommend it. The tape holds the mouth closed mechanically, while the pattern of tongue, swallowing and head balance remains unchanged. And if the nose is blocked under the tape, there is no way out.
How long does it take for my breathing pattern to change?
A pattern changes through repetition, not through insight. The exercise manual expects six to twelve months of training, three times a day, until the new patterns run without thinking, followed by maintenance training.
I have exercise-induced asthma. Can I still train?
Training the basic functions can be combined with medical treatment. Nasal breathing warms and moistens the air before it reaches the bronchi, which is why it is discussed in exercise-induced asthma. Never stop prescribed sprays on your own; discuss any changes with your doctor’s practice.
Is this also something for children and teenagers in sport?
The basic functions develop in childhood, so it is worth looking early. For children there is a separate exercise plan with the FaceFormer ZERO, recommended for children aged 2 to 10. More on the FaceFormer for children page.
More articles from the knowledge section
Where to go next
Sources
- Hodges PW, Gandevia SC (2000). Activation of the human diaphragm during a repetitive postural task. Journal of Physiology 522(Pt 1):165-175. PMID 10618161. Source
- Hodges PW, Heijnen I, Gandevia SC (2001). Postural activity of the diaphragm is reduced in humans when respiratory demand increases. Journal of Physiology 537(Pt 3):999-1008. PMID 11744772. Source
- Amann M, Blain GM, Proctor LT, Sebranek JJ, Pegelow DF, Dempsey JA (2010). Group III and IV muscle afferents contribute to ventilatory and cardiovascular response to rhythmic exercise in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology 109(4):966-976. PMID 20634355. Source
- Harms CA, Babcock MA, McClaran SR, Pegelow DF, Nickele GA, Nelson WB, Dempsey JA (1997). Respiratory muscle work compromises leg blood flow during maximal exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology 82(5):1573-1583. PMID 9134907. Source
- Lundberg JO, Settergren G, Gelinder S, Lundberg JM, Alving K, Weitzberg E (1996). Inhalation of nasally derived nitric oxide modulates pulmonary function in humans. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 158(4):343-347. PMID 8971255. Source
- Niinimaa V, Cole P, Mintz S, Shephard RJ (1980). The switching point from nasal to oronasal breathing. Respiration Physiology 42(1):61-71. PMID 7444224. Source
- Morton AR, King K, Papalia S, Goodman C, Turley KR, Wilmore JH (1995). Comparison of maximal oxygen consumption with oral and nasal breathing. Australian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 27(3):51-55. PMID 8599744. Source
- Recinto C, Efthemeou T, Boffelli PT, Navalta JW (2017). Effects of Nasal or Oral Breathing on Anaerobic Power Output and Metabolic Responses. International Journal of Exercise Science 10(4):506-514. PMID 28674596. Source
- Lévénez M, Lévêque C, Lafère C, Guerrero F, Balestra C, Lafère P (2025). Effect of Oral Versus Nasal Breathing on Muscular Performance, Muscle Oxygenation, and Post-Exercise Recovery. Sports (Basel) 13(10):368. PMID 41150503. Source
- Magnus R (1924). Körperstellung. Experimentell-physiologische Untersuchungen über die einzelnen bei der Körperstellung in Tätigkeit tretenden Reflexe. Berlin: Springer. Source
- Sung YH (2022). Suboccipital Muscles, Forward Head Posture, and Cervicogenic Dizziness. Medicina (Kaunas) 58(12):1791. PMID 36556992. Source
- Peterka RJ (2002). Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. Journal of Neurophysiology 88(3):1097-1118. PMID 12205132. Source
- Ringhof S, Stein T, Hellmann D, Schindler HJ, Potthast W (2016). Effect of Jaw Clenching on Balance Recovery: Dynamic Stability and Lower Extremity Joint Kinematics after Forward Loss of Balance. Frontiers in Psychology 7:291. PMID 27014116. Source
- Fadillioglu C, Kanus L, Möhler F, Ringhof S, Schindler HJ, Stein T, Hellmann D (2022). Influence of controlled masticatory muscle activity on dynamic reactive balance. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 49(3):327-336. PMID 34811784. Source
- Institut für Bewegung und Ernährung, Weilheim (2003). Längerer Atem mit FaceFormer-Therapie. RUNNING, Das Laufmagazin 9/2003, p. 28. Magazine report on an observation with 12 runners, not a scientific publication, without statistics. Source
- Herget A, Ohlendorf D, Kopp S (2012). Auswirkungen der Face-Former-Therapie auf die Oberkörperstatik. Manuelle Medizin 50(3):204-210. Source
Get started
Ready for the training?
The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises, counts along and reminds you of your sessions. If you wish, a practice from the practitioner directory can support you.
FaceFormer ZERO + ONE
Both material hardnesses for getting started, day and night. The set for adults.
FaceFormer ZERO
The softer FaceFormer for getting started, for children and for the night.
FaceFormer ZERO Children’s Set
ZERO with hygiene box, plush bag and success book with stamp.
FaceFormer training aims to restore the physiological setting of the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance, with lip closure and the tongue reference position, thereby creating the conditions under which symptoms can improve. It does not replace a medical assessment. You can find practitioners near you in the practitioner directory.
