Take a Deep Breath: Energy

§         Calm down

§         Concentrate

§         Wake up!

§         Enhance cardiovascular endurance during exercise.

Calm Down:

1.  Breath awareness and the 3-Part Breath.

2.  Under extreme conditions (panic, anxiety, anger, pain): the Inhale 4- Exhale 8 Breath.

Concentrate:

1.  Breath awareness and the 3-Part Breath.

2.  Alternate-nostril breathing, 1-5 minutes. (increases mental alertness but not physical arousal)

Alternate nostril cycle: Inhale through right nostril, exhale through left; inhale through left nostril, exhale through right. Repeat. Allow the breath to be slow and deep; do not hold the breath between breaths.

Wake up!:

1.  Breath awareness and the 3-Part Breath.

2.  The breath of fire cycle: 1-2 minutes. (increases heart rate and physical arousal)

The breath of fire cycle: 10-20 seconds of quick, powerful exhalations, pumping the belly, with short, passive inhalations, followed by a slower, deeper, 3-part part breath.

Enhance cardiovascular endurance during exercise:

1.  Between exercise sessions: practice the power belly breath, the no-belly power breath, and the full power breath. Goal: To develop the muscles of respiration.

The power belly breath: Deep belly breathing (belly expands and collapses) using the abdominal muscles to push the breath out fully. Practice slowly first, then develop speed.

The no-belly power breath:  Place your fists on your lower belly, and push the belly in as you inhale deeply.  This should force your upper respiratory muscles to work harder to expand the rib cage, chest, and back. Exhale normally.  Practice slowly first, then develop speed.

The full power breath: A deep breath, supported by all the muscles of respiration. This a powerful version of the 3-Part Breath. The power comes from the speed, strength, and full engagement of your respiration muscles.

2.  During cardiovascular exercise: Breathing rate and depth need to increase. Use the full power breath. Breathe through the mouth if necessary.

How does exercise affect breathing?

• During vigorous exercise, oxygen consumption requirements rise from 300 ml/min at rest to 3000 ml/min.  Carbon dioxide production (requiring exhalation) increases from 240 ml/min to 3000 ml/min.
• Depth of inspiration tends to increase first, followed by rate of respiration.
• Breathing with an open mouth is appropriate during strenuous exercise, because it provides less airway resistance than breathing through the nose, facilitating the increase in depth and rate of breathing.

How does breathing affect exercise performance?

• Because inhalation provides the oxygen needed by muscles for contraction, the quality of inhalation is important for strength, energy, endurance, and regulation of heart rate and blood pressure. 
• Because exhalation empties the lungs of carbon dioxide, the quality of exhalation is important for facilitating deep, powerful inhalations.
• How do we create powerful inhalations and exhalations?  Training the muscles of respiration.
• The muscles or respiration are more active during aerobic exercise than at rest, and your muscles of respiration may fatigue more quickly than your major movers (i.e. quadriceps, hamstrings).  Improving the quality of your breath in general – and specifically working to take strong inhalations and forceful exhalation – will improve endurance. Practice the Power Breath.

• You cannot dramatically improve short-term performance by breathing more deeply or quickly; you can only stop undermining your performance.  Physical exertion reduces the amount of blood returned to the heart, which further limits newly oxygenated blood being sent to muscles.  Breathing better cannot reverse this effect of physically straining or pushing during exercise; exertion will eventually lead to exhaustion. 
• However, breathing training can enhance performance more dramatically over the long term, for two reasons.  First, proper breathing will allow you to train longer and/or ‘harder’ over the short term, which will produce bigger training gains over time.  Second, the body adapts to proper breathing during exercise by increasing lung capacity – over time, the rib cage expands more to accommodate greater oxygen intake per inhalation, which improves cardiovascular function and breathing efficiency.

Breathwork

§         Practice breath awareness and the 3-Part Breath.

§         Practice the breath stretches at regular intervals at work.

§         Choose one new breathing exercise to try this week.

Next week: Breathing and the immune response; review of all breathing techniques.

Return to Take a Deep Breath Course Page

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