Breathe in. Breathe out.
At this moment you are doing it without even thinking about it.
Now, what's funny though is the moment we need to really focus on our breathing, like during exercise, for example, is when we tend to hold our breath. Why is that?
Typically someone holds their breathe when they are under stress or perceive a threat. It can also occur when we are anticipating something to happen, as the old saying goes, "Don't hold your breath!"
So why does my breathing matter?
Aside from the obvious affects that having a complete lack of oxygen would have on us, why does it matter how and when we breathe? I mean as long as do it at least, right?
Well at the most basic cellular level the goal of inhalation or breathing in, is to oxygenate the blood in order for us to live, function and perform. While the goal of exhalation or breathing out, is to remove carbon dioxide from the body to remove waste byproduct and keep a proper balance within the system. So that is just one reason of many why deep breathing using your diaphragm is important, in order to get as much oxygen into the system as possible with each breath.
What is my diaphragm?
The diaphragm is a muscle that extends across the bottom of the thoracic cavity and serves to help in respiration or breathing. When properly utilized during deep belly breathing the diaphragm can not only help deliver oxygen to your body more efficiently it can actually take some of the workload of your heart and decrease your heart rate. Just think of the simple health benefits there!
How should I breathe then?
Vague answer? It depends. There are many different breathing techniques out there but let's begin with some basics by breathing deeply into your belly. Belly breathing.
What is belly breathing? Well it's pretty straight forward, it's when you draw in a breathe so deep that you feel your stomach and lower back expand as you inhale. How do you do it?
Take a deep breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try and take longer to exhale than to inhale on this next breathe. Now try and control your breathe. Attempt a four second inhale, a seven second hold at the bottom of your belly and then an eight second exhalation. Repeat this again three to four times as you slowly begin to adjust to this new breathing pattern.
This deep breathing style is also useful for meditation and helping you to relax, recover, and relieve anxiety.
What about when I'm working out?
Being precise and timing your breathing is key to performance. Ever wonder why martial artist shout when they strike? Yes, a part of it is for focus and to intimidate their opponent but there is also a bit of science behind it.
When we exhale during a concentric muscle contraction we are actually able to derive more force from the muscle or muscles involved in the action or movement than if we didn't time our breathe properly. With that in mind it is important to time your inhale on the eccentric portion of the muscle contraction and exhale on the concentric.
Don't get me wrong, just breathing at all is better than holding your breath when you workout but try it the next time you lift and see the difference yourself, you may be able to get a few more clean reps out on that weight you've been plateauing on for a while.
Which brings me to the old school technique known as the Valsalva maneuver. Now the Valsalva maneuver is when a lifter holds their breathe during certain lifts to increase inter-abdominal pressure, basically the lifter is hoping to take pressure off their back by increasing their truck stability with the air pressure inside their body. The problem is this technique not only causes the lifter's blood pressure to sky rocket dangerously during the maneuver, it's also been reported to run the risk of causing possible fainting, temporary amnesia, spontaneous cerebral fluid leaking (clear liquid dripping from the nose), and/or brain bleeding afterwards. Lovely right? Not worth the risk if you ask this trainer. I'd recommend strengthening your core instead.
Breath out.
The next time you are training try timing your breathe to push a little harder or how about the next time life has got you stressed out, try closing your eyes and controlling your breathe. Breathe deep and let it go. Use your breathe. It can make a world of difference.
Now, what's funny though is the moment we need to really focus on our breathing, like during exercise, for example, is when we tend to hold our breath. Why is that?
Typically someone holds their breathe when they are under stress or perceive a threat. It can also occur when we are anticipating something to happen, as the old saying goes, "Don't hold your breath!"
So why does my breathing matter?
Aside from the obvious affects that having a complete lack of oxygen would have on us, why does it matter how and when we breathe? I mean as long as do it at least, right?
Well at the most basic cellular level the goal of inhalation or breathing in, is to oxygenate the blood in order for us to live, function and perform. While the goal of exhalation or breathing out, is to remove carbon dioxide from the body to remove waste byproduct and keep a proper balance within the system. So that is just one reason of many why deep breathing using your diaphragm is important, in order to get as much oxygen into the system as possible with each breath.
What is my diaphragm?
The diaphragm is a muscle that extends across the bottom of the thoracic cavity and serves to help in respiration or breathing. When properly utilized during deep belly breathing the diaphragm can not only help deliver oxygen to your body more efficiently it can actually take some of the workload of your heart and decrease your heart rate. Just think of the simple health benefits there!
How should I breathe then?
Vague answer? It depends. There are many different breathing techniques out there but let's begin with some basics by breathing deeply into your belly. Belly breathing.
What is belly breathing? Well it's pretty straight forward, it's when you draw in a breathe so deep that you feel your stomach and lower back expand as you inhale. How do you do it?
Take a deep breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try and take longer to exhale than to inhale on this next breathe. Now try and control your breathe. Attempt a four second inhale, a seven second hold at the bottom of your belly and then an eight second exhalation. Repeat this again three to four times as you slowly begin to adjust to this new breathing pattern.
This deep breathing style is also useful for meditation and helping you to relax, recover, and relieve anxiety.
What about when I'm working out?
Being precise and timing your breathing is key to performance. Ever wonder why martial artist shout when they strike? Yes, a part of it is for focus and to intimidate their opponent but there is also a bit of science behind it.
When we exhale during a concentric muscle contraction we are actually able to derive more force from the muscle or muscles involved in the action or movement than if we didn't time our breathe properly. With that in mind it is important to time your inhale on the eccentric portion of the muscle contraction and exhale on the concentric.
Don't get me wrong, just breathing at all is better than holding your breath when you workout but try it the next time you lift and see the difference yourself, you may be able to get a few more clean reps out on that weight you've been plateauing on for a while.
Which brings me to the old school technique known as the Valsalva maneuver. Now the Valsalva maneuver is when a lifter holds their breathe during certain lifts to increase inter-abdominal pressure, basically the lifter is hoping to take pressure off their back by increasing their truck stability with the air pressure inside their body. The problem is this technique not only causes the lifter's blood pressure to sky rocket dangerously during the maneuver, it's also been reported to run the risk of causing possible fainting, temporary amnesia, spontaneous cerebral fluid leaking (clear liquid dripping from the nose), and/or brain bleeding afterwards. Lovely right? Not worth the risk if you ask this trainer. I'd recommend strengthening your core instead.
Breath out.
The next time you are training try timing your breathe to push a little harder or how about the next time life has got you stressed out, try closing your eyes and controlling your breathe. Breathe deep and let it go. Use your breathe. It can make a world of difference.
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