Background and Objectives: The current study aimed to better understand the changes in respiration that occur with aging in men and women to provide accurate recommendations for breathing exercises to improve health. Materials and Methods: A total of 610 healthy subjects, aged 20 to 59, participated in the study. They performed quiet breathing while wearing two respiration belts (Vernier, Beaverton, OR, USA) at the height of the navel and at the xiphoid process to record abdominal motion (AM) and thoracic motion (TM), respectively. Vital capacity, representing maximal inhalation movement, was measured using a spirometer (Xindonghuateng, Beijing, China). After exclusion, 565 subjects (164 men, aged 41 ± 11; 401 women, aged 42 ± 9) were included for statistical analysis using the Kruskal–Wallis U test and stepwise multiple linear regression. Results: Abdominal motion and its contribution to spontaneous breathing were significantly larger for older men, while the contribution of thoracic motion was smaller for older men. There was no significant difference in thoracic motion between the younger and older men. The differences in women’s respiratory movements among various ages were mild and negligible. The contribution of thoracic motion to spontaneous breathing in women was larger than in men for those of older ages (40–59 years), but not for those of younger ages (20–39 years). Additionally, men’s and women’s vital capacities were less in those of older ages, and the men’s were larger than the women’s. Conclusions: The findings indicate that men’s abdominal contribution to spontaneous breathing increased from 20 to 59 years of age due to increased abdominal motion. Women’s respiratory movements did not change much with aging. The maximal inhalation movement became smaller with aging for men and women. Healthcare professionals should focus on improving thoracic mobility when addressing health concerns about aging.

Background: Abdominal/diaphragmatic breathing exercises are popular worldwide and have been proven to be beneficial for physical performance. Is abdominal motion (AM) during spontaneous breathing correlated with physical fitness? The present study aimed to answer this question. Methods: 434 women (aged 20–59) were enrolled and participated in respiration tests using two respiration belts (one was tied at the height of the xiphoid and another at the navel) to detect AM and thoracic motion (TM). They also performed physical fitness tests to measure body size, muscular strength, muscular power, muscular endurance, balance, flexibility, reaction time, and cardiorespiratory endurance. Results: All the correlation coefficients between respiratory movements (AM, TM, AM + TM, AM/(AM + TM)) and physical fitness outcomes were less than 0.4/−0.4. Only AM and muscular power (countermovement jump height) had a weak correlation, with a correlation coefficient close to 0.4 in the 20−29-year age group (r_s = 0.398, p = 0.011, n = 40). Conclusions: Women’s respiratory movements during spontaneous breathing were not correlated with physical fitness. Future studies may focus on the relationship between AM and countermovement jump height in young women with a larger sample size and using ultrasound to directly test the excursion of the diaphragm.

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