The Breath of Champions: How Top Athletes Use Proper Breathing to Improve Performance
Quick Summary Points
Utilize mouth breathing when nose breathing becomes too labored during working sets/reps to pull in more oxygen and allow for better muscle activation. After a hard bout, try to implement nose breathing again to get the body to relax and optimize waste removal before the next set.
If you’re getting too nervous or excited or you need to get rid of excess CO2 in the system before another rep of your workout, try using the physiological sigh technique 1 to 3 times in a row.
If you’re lifting heavy weights, learn to brace and find a rhythm you can handle that allows you to remain safe, energy efficient, and not pass out.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. How breathing affects our performance
3. Differences between breathing through the nose and mouth
4. What breathing does to the heart and chest cavity
5. How breathing sends certain signals and relates to stress
6. What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
7. How to best breathe for athletic performance
8. How to breathe for weightlifting
10. Conclusion
Introduction
Proper breathing during exercise is crucial for optimal physical and mental performance.
During exercise, it can improve performance, reduce stress, and optimize physical and mental health. By understanding how breathing affects our body during exercise and learning different breathing techniques, we can improve our overall health and tap into a wide range of performance-based benefits we all seek as competitive athletes.
We will explore the various ways in which breathing affects our performance during exercise, including oxygen delivery to muscles, carbon dioxide removal, and heart rate and blood pressure regulation. We will also look at the differences between nose and mouth breathing and the benefits of each, as well as the impact of breathing on the heart and chest cavity, and how it relates to stress. Finally, we will provide tips on how to best breathe for athletic performance, including warm-up with nasal breathing, matching breathing to activity level, and practicing diaphragmatic breathing, and so on. Let’s get started!
How Breathing Affects Our Performance
As most of us know, oxygen is essential for our muscles to function properly. When we breathe correctly during exercise, we take in more oxygen which is then transported to our muscles through our bloodstream. This allows our muscles to make use of it to work more efficiently and perform better. Think of oxygen as the fuel that our muscles need to function, and proper, efficient breathing as the clean pipeline that delivers that fuel.
During exercise, the body's demand for oxygen increases, and as a result, the body breathes faster and deeper to meet that demand. However, as we breathe faster, the body also exhales more carbon dioxide (CO2) than usual. If the body is unable to exhale the CO2 quickly enough, it can start to build up in the blood and tissues, which is known as hypercapnia.
One of the main effects of CO2 buildup during exercise is an increase in acidity of the blood, also known as acidosis. This can cause a decrease in the efficiency of the body's enzymes and can lead to fatigue, muscle weakness, and decreased endurance. Additionally, high levels of CO2 can affect the body's ability to properly oxygenate the brain, leading to confusion, dizziness, and fatigue. If you’ve ever run a really high intensity endurance workout, you know what I’m talking about.
Proper breathing helps to remove this waste product efficiently and keep our body's internal environment clean and churnin’ and burnin’. You can Imagine carbon dioxide as the trash that needs to be taken out of the house, and good breathing as the garbage truck that takes it away.
The way we breathe also affects our heart rate and blood pressure. When we breathe deeply and slowly, it can lower our heart rate and blood pressure, which can be beneficial for relaxation and reducing stress.
On the other hand, rapid and shallow breathing can increase heart rate and blood pressure, which can be beneficial for high-intensity exercise. In that respect, breathing acts as a thermostat of sorts that regulates our internal temperature and keeps everything in balance. More on this in a moment.
Nose Breathing vs Mouth Breathing for Sport
The two main ways of breathing are through the nose and through the mouth. Nose breathing is considered to be the more natural and efficient way of breathing, as it warms, filters and humidifies the air we inhale. Mouth breathing, on the other hand, bypasses these natural mechanisms and can lead to dry mouth, bad breath and other respiratory problems. Think of nose breathing as drinking from a straw and mouth breathing as gulping from a glass. One is more controlled and steady, while the other allows for you to take in a significantly larger amount at one time.
There are many benefits to nose breathing, including improved oxygenation of the body, better carbon dioxide removal, and better regulation of heart rate and blood pressure. Nose breathing also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to relax and calm the body. This can be beneficial for reducing stress, improving sleep, and promoting overall well-being.
While nose breathing is generally considered to be the more natural and efficient way of breathing, there are certain situations in which mouth breathing may be more appropriate. For example, during high-intensity exercise, mouth breathing can help to increase the amount of oxygen that enters the body. Additionally, if you have a stuffy nose due to a cold or allergies, mouth breathing can help to clear the airway and aid in an otherwise difficult time breathing.
It's important to note that while mouth breathing can be beneficial in certain situations, it should not be the default way of breathing. As stated earlier, chronic mouth breathing can lead to various respiratory problems, dry mouth, bad breath, and even sleep apnea. Therefore, it's essential to practice nose breathing as much as possible and only use mouth breathing when necessary, such as high-intensity exercise.
In the next section, we will look at the impact of breathing on the heart and chest cavity, and how it relates to stress. We will also discuss how to best breathe for athletic performance, including warm-up with nasal breathing, matching breathing to activity level, and practicing diaphragmatic breathing.
What Breathing Does to the Heart and Chest Cavity
Let us first understand what the diaphragm is. The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle below the lungs that is the most vital contributor to breathing. This important muscle moves down during inhalation which expands the chest cavity and heart, resulting in slower blood flow through that larger volume, and the brain sends a signal to the heart to speed up.
On the other hand, when you exhale, the diaphragm moves up, causing the thoracic cavity volume to shrink, and the heart to get smaller. This results in blood moving more quickly through the smaller heart, and the brain sends a signal for the heart to slow down. This is known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia, or RSA. Remember this, as it’s going to be very important to how we can use it to help calm or elevate our stress levels.
Now that we have an idea of how the chest and heart can change during each breath, let’s discuss some good form options for breath.
Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as “belly breathing”, is a technique that involves breathing deeply into the diaphragm. This type of breathing helps to expand the lungs fully, allowing for maximum oxygen intake and carbon dioxide removal. Think of diaphragmatic breathing as a balloon that fills up with air and expands as you inhale.
This chest expansion is another important aspect of proper breathing. When we breathe correctly, the chest should expand outwards, rather than lifting upwards. Chest expansion allows for full lung expansion, which can help to improve oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal, as well. It also helps to promote good posture, which can be beneficial for a number of reasons long-term.
It's important to note that while diaphragmatic breathing and chest expansion are beneficial, they should not be forced. It's important to let your body breathe naturally and avoid unnecessary tension. Also, practicing diaphragmatic breathing and chest expansion regularly can help to improve your breathing mechanics over time, just like any other skill or drill you practice for sports.
Next, let’s take a look at the relationship between breathing and stress and how to use breathing techniques to reduce stress. It will be a tremendous help if you can grasp the following basic concepts.
How Breathing Sends Certain Signals and Relates to Stress
Slow, deep breathing is a technique that involves taking long, slow breaths, which can help to relax the body and reduce stress. This type of breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to slow down the heart rate and lower blood pressure. This can be beneficial for reducing anxiety, improving sleep, and promoting overall well-being. Imagine slow, deep breathing as a gentle breeze that cools down the body and calms the mind.
On the other hand, rapid, shallow breathing is a common response to stress, which can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. This type of breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the fight or flight response. While this response can be beneficial in certain situations, let’s say, during intense exercise, chronic shallow breathing can lead to increased stress and anxiety. Think of rapid, shallow breathing as a gust of wind that makes you feel tense or stressed.
Breathing is far more than just taking in air on autopilot so you don’t pass out or die, it’s crucial to how our system functions from living, to stress management, to certain physiological changes…and you can actually control it!
A decent amount of research has gone into understanding the “physiological sigh” – a breathing technique that involves taking a double inhale(typically), followed by a long exhale. This technique is done through the nose, with the second inhale being slightly deeper to allow more air to enter the lungs.
The purpose of this technique is to offload, or get rid of, a large amount of carbon dioxide at once, as the extra air on the second inhale reinflates the small sacs (alveoli) in the lungs and discards all the carbon dioxide. This technique is known to quickly and dramatically decrease stress levels, one to three of these sighs can be done to achieve this.
These sighs are extremely common, and again, you already do it without thinking. You do it, your mom does it, your dog does it, you do it when stressed, when tired, etc. When your body needs to calm down or offset CO2 with more oxygen, you find yourself sighing after a big inhale. Now you can use it to your own advantage by implementing it into a routine.
The way we breathe can have a significant impact on our mental and emotional state. Our breath is closely connected to our thoughts and emotions, and by controlling our breath, we can also control our thoughts and emotions. Slow, deep breathing can help to calm the mind, while rapid, shallow breathing can increase stress and anxiety. By learning to breathe correctly, we can improve our mental and emotional well-being. Imagine the mind-body connection as a conductor that controls the orchestra of your body and mind.
It's important to note that while slow, deep breathing can be beneficial for relaxation and stress reduction, it should also not be forced, like anything. Learn to breathe naturally with what feels comfortable with your own body rhythm. Practice makes perfect and makes permanent.
What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
Breathing also plays a crucial role in heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a measure of the change in time between successive heartbeats. It is usually measured in milliseconds and reflects the ability of the autonomic nervous system to adapt to changes in the environment and to regulate the body's physiological processes.
It’s considered an indicator of overall cardiovascular health and has been linked to a number of physiological conditions, including stress, anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Low HRV is associated with increased risk for these conditions, while high HRV is associated with better health outcomes. HRV can be measured using an electrocardiogram or a heart rate monitor.
Now that you know what it is, how does our breathing affect it? HRV is influenced by the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which control the body's fight or flight response and relaxation response, respectively. Proper breathing can help to promote HRV by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which can be beneficial for reducing stress, and improving sleep. Think of it as a metronome, it keeps the beat steady and in time.
Remember earlier how we talked about RSA and how the brain will tell the heart to speed up or slow down depending on your inhales and exhales? Those signals dictate the changes in your heart rate.
In sports science, heart rate variability (HRV) is used as a tool to monitor the physiological response to training and recovery in athletes. It can provide insight into an athlete's overall health and fitness level, as well as their readiness to train or compete.
HRV can be used to evaluate the impact of different types of training on the body, such as endurance training, strength training, or high-intensity interval training. By measuring HRV before and after training, coaches and athletes can determine if the training is too intense or not intense enough, and make adjustments accordingly.
HRV can also be used to monitor recovery after training or competition. Athletes who have a low HRV after training may need more rest and recovery time before returning to training, whereas athletes with a high HRV may be ready to resume training.
Another use of HRV in sport science is in monitoring the progress of the athletes over time. Just like how we keep track of lifting PRs or sprint times, by keeping track of an athlete's HRV, it is possible to identify patterns and trends that indicate changes in overall health, fitness, and readiness to train.
Finally, let’s discuss how to best breathe for athletic performance, including warm-up with nasal breathing, matching breathing to activity level, and practicing diaphragmatic breathing, etc. By understanding the relationship between breathing and stress and learning how to control our breath, we can improve our physical prowess and control our mental status.
How to Best Breathe For Athletic Performance
Nasal breathing is considered to be the more natural and efficient way of breathing, and it's important to practice nasal breathing during a warm-up before exercise. Nasal breathing helps to warm, filter and humidify the air we inhale, which can be beneficial for the lungs and respiratory system.
It also helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which can help to relax and calm the body before exercise. Think of nasal breathing during warm-up as a light jog before a marathon, it gets your body ready for the workout in the same way your warm-up drills get you ready to move fluidly.
The way we breathe should match the intensity of the exercise we are doing. During low-intensity exercise, such as yoga or stretching, slow, deep nasal breathing is appropriate. During moderate-intensity exercise, such as fast walking or cycling, nasal breathing with a slightly increased pace is appropriate.
During high-intensity exercise, such as intense running or weightlifting, mouth breathing may be necessary to increase the amount of oxygen that enters the body. Imagine you matching your breath to the activity level as shifting gears on your bike or car, it adapts to the speed and intensity of the workout. That likely seems fairly obvious, but how often do you incorporate or even think about your breathing while you exercise?
Diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing) can be practiced during any type of exercise, and it's particularly beneficial during strength training and other high-intensity exercises. It helps to stabilize the core by increasing internal pressure and helps to increase power output.
By understanding how to best breathe for athletic performance, we can improve our athletic performance, reduce stress, and improve our overall health. Proper breathing technique can help to optimize oxygen delivery to muscles, carbon dioxide removal, and heart rate and blood pressure regulation. It's important to keep in mind that everyone's body is different and what works for one person may not work for another, so it's important to experiment and find what works best for you.
It can’t be stressed enough, spend some time finding what feels natural during your workout and which breathing exercises seem more beneficial. Write it down in a notebook, or whip out your phone notes. Sometimes the things that seem the least significant can be a major contributor to your success or lack of performance.
Oxygen is the lifeblood of the entire system, and plays a vital role in regulating stress hormones and the way you feel. If you can’t get enough of it when you need it, or you get stressed due to the way you breathe, you may find yourself unable to perform optimally or even at all.
How to Breathe For Weightlifting
This one’s an interesting topic amongst gym rats like myself. Do you hold your breath the whole time? Should you exhale through the concentric phase? Is there even a proper way to breathe?
Well, if it’s in this article, I think it’s fair to say “yes” to that last question.
Everyone is different and must adhere to some slight modifications, but we can assert a few guidelines.
We know that the body needs oxygen to perform optimally and that certain breathing techniques can be used to relax or enhance aspects of our training, but we didn’t cover intra-abdominal pressure and its role in athletic performance.
Intra-abdominal pressure is the pressure inside your belly. It's like the air pressure inside a balloon. When we breathe in, the air goes into our lungs and pushes out our bellies. When we breathe out, the air goes out of our lungs and our belly goes back in. This is the normal way our belly moves when we breathe.
We can create this intra-abdominal pressure by applying a breathing technique called the Valsalva maneuver. This is something most of us are very familiar with naturally. The best way to explain it is what happens when trying to perform a bowel movement or bracing to take a punch to the stomach.
The Valsalva maneuver involves taking a deep breath and then trying to exhale while keeping the airway closed.
This internal pressure in the belly provides a stable base of support for the spine, which in turn allows for a more efficient transfer of force from the legs to the upper body. This results in increased strength and power in the upper body, allowing us to lift heavier weights. When we lift heavy weights, the spine is more susceptible to injury if it is not properly supported.
Additionally, it also helps to increase muscle activation, especially in the core muscles, which improves overall stability and balance during lifting, decreasing the risk of injury and getting better full-body synchronization.
If you’ve ever used a weight belt, that’s what you’re trying to do. You want to use the tight belt as something solid to push your stomach into, creating a lot of internal pressure to help stabilize your spine and core. Think of trying to pump up a balloon in between two walls.
As for when to breathe or how to breathe during the lift, it’s generally best to hold your breath and keep intra-abdominal pressure. It’s not always the most optimal way for every situation, so there are alternatives.
Many of our athletes stick to holding their breath and pressure from lift off to about the halfway point of the concentric phase and then breathing out, then repeating this with each rep. For example, if you are performing a squat, you would hold your breath and brace down as your butt and hips lower, then, you exhale the last half of the upward portion of the lift. Always remembering to reset, inhale deeply, and brace before each rep.
Another popular alternative is to hold your breath through 3 or so reps and then take a deep breath, brace, and do another set of three, repeating until the set is complete.
The main takeaway is that we want to protect the spine and allow the most efficient transfer of energy possible to keep us safe and efficient in our movements to allow for maximum force generation.
What Are We Combating?
One of the main things you need to know and understand during training is whether are you trying to combat low oxygen or high CO2. Your breathing strategy is going to differ.
Breathing strategies differ when combating low oxygen (hypoxia) versus high carbon dioxide (hypercapnia) levels because these conditions affect different parts of the body and require different physiological responses.
When an athlete is training at high altitudes, the air has less oxygen. To combat low oxygen levels, the body may respond by increasing the rate and depth of breathing, which increases the amount of oxygen that enters the lungs and is delivered to the body's cells. This can help to improve the athlete's endurance and performance by increasing the oxygenation to the body's cells and organs. Endurance athletes such as runners, cyclists, and swimmers often use high-altitude training to improve their performance at lower altitudes.
On the other hand, when an athlete is engaging in heavy strength training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), the body's demand for oxygen increases and produces more CO2 than at rest. To combat high CO2 levels, the body may respond by slowing down breathing and decreasing the depth of each breath, which decreases the amount of carbon dioxide that is retained in the body. This can help to improve the athlete's endurance and performance by decreasing the carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
Conclusion
In this article, we have explored the various ways in which proper breathing during exercise can improve performance, reduce stress, and optimize physical and mental health. We have discussed how breathing affects our performance, including oxygen delivery to muscles, waste removal, and heart rate and blood pressure regulation.
We have also looked at the differences between nose and mouth breathing and the benefits of each, as well as the impact of breathing on the heart and chest cavity and how it relates to stress. Finally, we have provided tips on how to best breathe for athletic performance and emphasized the importance of purposefully experimenting with breathing during training to find what works best for you.
Proper breathing is like the engine of a car, it helps everything run smoothly and efficiently. Remember that proper breathing is a skill that can be learned and developed over time, so take the time to practice and make it a part of your regular exercise routine, and try to make it at least a little fun.
On average, we take 20,000 breaths per day, and it’s a safe bet you don’t think about a single one.
