Review of Be Breathed with Scott Sonnon: Review by John Sifferman

In order for me to write a review, a product has to really impress me. I try out too many products, programs, and read too many books to review them all – so I only write reviews for products that I endorse and have used with success myself.

Be Breathed is one of those products that has impressed me.

I’ll get to the core-shredding, ab training info in a minute, but first I want you to know that Be Breathed has a very specific purpose: to teach you how to allow your body to breathe itself. Sounds a little mystical, right? Let me explain.

The idea behind Be Breathed is to allow your body to be breathed by your movement. So, for instance, when you do an exercise that compresses your lungs (ie ab crunch) you exhale the air out of your lungs forcefully. Conversely, when you do an exercise that expands your lungs (ie the down position of the pushup) you inhale passively. Now, we could get really deep into this, but I think it would be best if you experienced it for yourself. At least you now know that there is nothing mystical about Be Breathed at all – it’s just a method of breathing while moving or performing an exercise.

So why do we need to Be Breathed? If one can learn to reprogram their breathing, they can adapt to different exercises much faster. Essentially, learning to Be Breathed is a way of fine-tuning your movement in any activity. Every action has three components: breathing, movement, and structure. Each of those components controls the other two, at least to a degree. At all times, we are breathing. At all times, our breath is creating a structure in our body (whether expanded or compressed/exhaled). Our breath also controls our movement in that, if we breathe a certain way, it will move our body.

I know this sounds a little sciency, and a little like wordplay, but stay with me here.

Consider with me, what it would be like if we could master our ability to integrate our breathing, movement, and structure in any activity. Essentially, we would be able to perform almost anything effortlessly in a perfect environment.

And that’s the goal of Be Breathed, to teach the breathing component to help you move effortlessly through your day and through your training sessions.

Theoretically, if you and I were to master the skill of Being Breathed by our movement, we would never be out of breath – even at high exertion levels.

So, what are some of the other benefits of Be Breathed?

If you’re interested in a VERY strong core musculature (who doesn’t want great abs???), then Be Breathed will help you do this. This program is a superb ab training routine, which is a little hard to see at first with the emphasis being placed on breathing.

You see, when we train ourselves to be breathed by our movement, our core muscles are actually what breathes us through the contractions and co-contractions of movement. If you learn to contract your core muscles to exhale air out of your lungs, not only are you becoming more adept at physical activity in general, you are also building rock-hard abs, obliques, and lower back muscles.

I’ve heard many stories of people relieving their lower back pain by using Be Breathed because it not only trains the abs, it trains the entire core – and that includes the lower back muscles.

There are several different exercise demonstrations included as well as a workout program demo at the end of the DVD. Sonnon even gives you a seated Be Breathed routine for those of you who drive a lot or work at a desk and don’t have the ability to lay on the floor for the main exercises.

The DVD quality is good, but not great. I’ll emphasize that you are paying for the information contained on the DVD, not necessarily a flashy, high quality video production.

Is there a downside to the Be Breathed program?

If there is a down side, it is that the program is only for beginner to intermediate trainees. Although Sonnon refers to some of the exercises as advanced, I think there are some much more sophisticated versions that are not covered in this DVD.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking to tone up your midsection, lose your gut, or get a flat belly, then Be Breathed is probably the most effective and healthiest program for your needs. The methods that Sonnon uses teach you how to relax the body and relieve tension, rather than store up tension like crunches and situps do. I would rate this DVD program far above many of the other ab exercise programs available today.

Be Breathed is available here:

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional
CST, CST-KS, NSCA-CPT