You know the feeling of gasping for air. It happens when you just can’t catch your breath, even if you’re breathing as fast as you can. How often do you stop an exercise because you get winded? How often do you slow down because you feel as if you can’t get enough oxygen? It’s not due to your arms or legs giving out; it’s literally a question of “catching your breath.” 65 Specifically, you can’t get enough air in and out of your body fast enough to drive whatever you’re doing. So you stop.
So what if you could get enough air in and out fast enough?
The good news: you can—by strengthening the muscles that pull the air in and push it out of your body.
Doesn’t regular exercise work out breathing muscles, too? No, it doesn’t, and that’s because you don’t exercise the muscles to the point of exhaustion (when it gets to the point that your breathing muscles are getting a workout, the rest of your muscles are already slowing down). You must work out breathing muscles separately.
Take two athletes with the same amount of talent, heart, and strength. The one who’d followed a breathing-muscle workout will indubitably dominate.
If this is news to you, don’t worry. Studies on breathing and breathing muscles in sports didn’t start until the 1980s. Before then, it was simply assumed that the diaphragm adapted to continuous activity. But it doesn’t, and this takes a big toll on your performance.
FAQ: How much does my gene pool have to do with my breathing? While your heredity dictates the efficacy of pulmonary and tissue diffusion (the transfer of gas from air in the lungs to the red blood cells), you can make massive changes in the strength of your breathing muscles —the pump that makes oxygen available to your lungs.
Breathing for Warriors is a class I teach for athletes who want better conditioning and endurance (think CrossFit or mixed martial arts—MMA). There are two major goals:
1. Adding oxygen to your blood. The common reaction to “gassing,” or running out of breath, is, “I have to do more cardio.” If the point of cardio is to improve the circulation of blood driven by your heart in order to get more oxygen to your body, then why not consider adding more oxygen to your blood, instead? It makes sense, right?
Action: Making sure every breath you take is an efficacious one. Breathing mechanics take up energy, so why not make each breath you take the biggest one possible?
2. Incorporating a breathing workout. Much of the fatigue experienced during exercise comes from the breathing muscles getting tired.
Action: Unless you have a specific breathing workout (which often means the rest of your body is not moving), you’re not working out your breathing muscles in a way that makes them stronger.
The breathing workout and drills you’re practicing with this book will:
Why is breathing from the biggest part of your lungs and making sure your breathing muscles are in shape so important? The average adult breathes ten to fifteen times per minute, but during exercise up to five times as much —a whopping forty to fifty times.
1. Give you endurance and conditioning past what any cardio workout could do on its own. Pick a measure of your endurance now, and watch how it changes as you do your breathing workout over the next few weeks. You’ll find that the point at which you tire gets later, and that your scores or times improve. 66
2. Increase the speed at which you heal, due to oxygenation of muscles, and protect yourself against falling into a depression (caused in part by lack of endorphins). For athletes, injuries are a fate worse than death: your plans change, you can’t move, you feel as if you’re losing all the gains you’ve made. Having a breathing workout means that, despite an immobilizing injury, you can still sweat and work out on the inside. These exercises raise your levels of endorphins and healing oxygen, despite that ACL tear or fracture.
3. Give you nerves of steel. Upper-body Breathing automatically makes you anxious; Horizontal Breathing helps get you in the “zone” and stay there. You’ll have the ability to withstand more discomfort and push past the pain threshold that could otherwise hold you back. You’ll eliminate perplexing gassing on the court or playing field because you will have gained balanced energy that comes with better breathing.
FAQ: So even though I run until I am breathing so hard that I have to stop, this isn’t working out my breathing muscles? It sure feels like it. In order to strengthen any muscle, you have to push it past exhaustion, and to do this, you have to work out your breathing muscles on their own. What does that mean? Do Exhale Pulsations and Recovery Breath until you sweat. The harder you work out your inhale and exhale, the less you will tire when you are practicing or competing.
FAQ: Why do I get so panicky before a race? I’ve been practicing positive affirmations, but they don’t seem to work. The anxiety that comes with competition usually depends on what is at stake (be it purse or pride). Your breathing responds to what is on the line; consequently, the way in which you breathe can make you more anxious. Once you get your breathing under control, your neurology automatically goes along with it and your mantras and positive self-talk will work much better.
Let’s talk about three topics critical to your success that are intimately involved in your breathing: Recovery, your “inner game,” and how to breathe when you lift and run.
One of the most important and most overlooked aspects of training is recovery. If you don’t give yourself time to recover between workouts, you put yourself at risk for injury and will plateau as far as learning and getting stronger are concerned. But taking a long weekend off may be out of the question, plus during downtime, what your brain finds relaxing—video games, Facebook, TV—may not really be helping your body. So how do you “relax fast”? The meditation exercise you learned in the last chapter is called Recovery Breath; however, when I teach it to athletes, it’s about oxygenating, lowering cortisol, healing, and pushing that reset button so they can train again effectively tomorrow.
Whether it’s a jolt of happiness as the ball makes it in, or literally a kick in the head from an opponent, bursts of energy can be extreme and can negatively affect your judgment if not controlled. “Bad” breathing can exacerbate this. Breathing, then, is the ultimate way to keep that adrenaline in balance: you want to be calm and alert. 67 Unfortunately, fluctuations in energy and emotion can become a potentially dangerous enemy, hurting your peripheral vision and warping your time perception.
Practice adversity. Yes, practice; don’t assume that you’ll know what to do when you need to calm yourself quickly. In my Breathing for Warriors class, I make participants practice getting revved up and then calming down, until it becomes a mastered skill. 68
FAQ: You talk about efficient breath; why is that so important? If you are taking dramatic Vertical Breaths—moving your upper body and shoulders instead of using your diaphragm—you are using up a lot of energy (which is called “the mechanical cost of lung expansion”). A more efficient Lower-body Breath accesses the biggest, most oxygen-dense part of your lungs, with muscles that use up less energy.
FAQ: So if I breathe better, I’ll have more energy? Yes, because cellular metabolism—reactions in the cell that produce energy—is regulated by the oxygen provided during breathing.
In both competition and in occupational situations, it can be very tough to calm down after you’ve experienced a major energy surge. The rush keeps you vibrating and on edge, even when you want to calm down. Instead, you’re still buzzing but sapped of energy. Modulating your energy levels and not letting nerves tap into your reserves of energy is a challenge every athlete faces. The knowledge about the subtleties of your body and your own mind that breathing will teach you will definitely give you a better grasp of cellular metabolism and put you in control of your own gas tank. It’s a state of mind that comes naturally to very few. The good news is that it is a state of mind that can be achieved by practicing breathing that calms you.
Your “inner game” is the ease with which you get “into the zone” and find your tempo, your rhythm … It all has to do with your breath, but you have to study it pragmatically, as you’re doing now.
Deep breathing after exercise is important since post-exercise oxygen consumption (PEOC) often occurs. Basically, your metabolism stays elevated, and your body continues using up more oxygen than normal for several hours. Getting extra oxygen is a good thing, as it’ll decrease this oxygen deficit.
If you’re a surfer and getting hit by that second (or third) wave, you better make sure you have a good breath-hold. In my advanced classes, I include exercises on retention that are very important both for breath-holds and for mental toughness, as well. 69
There are moments when holding your breath is good. 70 (In fact, there’s a split second at the bottom of your exhale when you are most at peace, most still.) At the end of an exhale, if you’re putting in golf or shooting at a range, you need your most steady heartbeat.
FAQ: Do I mess up my energy if I hold my breath? Yes, because when you stop breathing, you throw your body and brain into a complete imbalance from which it’s very difficult to recover quickly. It can take a while for your body to recalibrate its levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Holding your breath (as when you’re anxious) reduces beneficial antioxidants in the body.
Remember, the biggest mistake you can make if you’re doing a sport is to hold your breath too long. 71
A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology demonstrates the significant effect of “the work of breathing” during strenuous exercise on performance time to exhaustion in healthy, physically trained humans. Craig A. Harms et al. observed that increasing the effectiveness of breathing consistently led to significantly longer exercise tolerance; increasing “the work of breathing” curtailed performance. Their findings demonstrate that “the work of breathing” normally encountered during sustained heavy exercise has an impact on exercise performance.
Lifting—three points to keep in mind to do it right:
1. Inhale with a big belly breath (relaxing your hips/glutes), then contract your middle before lifting in order to create intrathoracic pressure. Contracting will help brace the load during heavier lifts while maintaining lumbar stability. 72
2. Exhale on the exertion. Using the bench press as an example, exhale slowly and continuously while pressing the bar. While you may have to hold the breath momentarily past the “sticking” point, make sure you go back to exhaling immediately afterward. (If the movement is a fast one, like a strike or a punch, the goal should be a forced exhalation.)
3. A little known fact is that you need to protect your pelvic floor when lifting, otherwise you’ll end up with pelvic-floor herniation (think leaking when you cough or laugh) over time. During the inhale, relax your body, then contract the pelvic floor, then contract the abs to stabilize the spine. Go!
Running—three points to keep in mind to do it right:
1. Breathing low will help your center of gravity while running. Vertical Breathing actually puts your center of gravity a foot higher, which is unbalancing.
2. Breathing low also means a more efficient breath, using less energy and creating more. A bigger breath means you have more flexibility to regulate your breathing to match your stride. Budd Coates is the expert when it comes to rhythmic running. 73
3. Lower-body Breaths calm the system, so you can get “in the zone” when running faster. Note: Synchronizing your breath to your running cadence will keep the organs from putting unnecessary pressure on the diaphragm.
When the cardiovascular system can keep up with the demands of an exercise, the exercise is said to be “aerobic”; but when the demands of the exercise exceed our cardiovascular capacity, the exercise is considered “anaerobic.” Once the accumulated toxins in your body reach a certain point, you “hit the wall.” Anaerobic exercise is especially beneficial in that it increases the capacity of the cardiovascular system. The good news is that breathing exercises also help raise that capacity.
Anaerobic exercise differs from aerobic in its use of oxygen. While aerobic exercise develops a continual process of energy delivery by continual oxygen use, anaerobic exercise allows the body to function on pre-prepared energy stored directly in the cell itself. This energy is generally accessed when the body is pushed to more than 90 percent of its typical physical output. Typical training of the anaerobic system usually involves intervals or circuits which push the body to total output for a short period of time, ranging from a few seconds to around four minutes at the higher end.
The fundamental theory of altitude training proposes that by exposing athletes to an environment that is low in oxygen, their bodies adapt to the stress by improving their oxygen intake efficiency, thereby enhancing physical performance. According to this theory, if athletes can adjust their bodies to perform at competitive levels with less oxygen in their blood and muscles, then while competing at sea level, they should have higher endurance levels. Unfortunately, research hasn’t documented much consistent value in high-altitude training.
FAQ: What happens when I “get the wind knocked out of me”? What can I do about it? You can get the wind knocked out of you if you’re thrown unexpectedly in judo, or if you hit the ground jarringly as when falling from a horse. What you experience is essentially a diaphragm spasm. You can do several things: cough or pretend to laugh (although this is probably really the last thing on your mind), or push your belly out hard to inhale, then push your sides together to exhale. Think of it exactly like a knot or spasm in any muscle. Much of the jolt comes with the psychological surprise of being “thrown,” and the antidote is to practice falling so that when it happens you know exactly how to react.
FAQ: Isn’t my breathing automatically better because I do yoga? No, not all yoga improves breathing. I find that often people in class are ignoring the instructions to “inhale, two, three, four, exhale, two, three, four,” and instead are holding their breath during difficult poses. In addition, some hot or power yoga propels you into dysfunctional upper-body panting and breath-holding. Looking for something to help you breathe? I suggest qigong, in which at least the pacing and movement are synchronized; if you’re able to keep your breathing low at your belly, you’ll be golden.
There are five basic exercises that athletes learn to perfection when working with me.
1. Exhale when exerting energy. 74 The exhale will help strengthen whatever you’re propelling, be it a fist or a baseball, or a weight when bench-pressing.
Homework: You may think you’re exhaling, but check how often you’re really holding your breath. Practice integrating the breath into movement—this will help with the strength of the movement and its fluidity.
2. Face your enemies. Your worst enemy is “perceived fatigue.” Crushing this opponent is possible by working out your breathing muscles diligently.
Homework: How often do you wonder why you’re lacking focus, energy, or motivation? Check yourself. It may be your breathing is off (rather than your being lazy or lacking passion).
3. Breathe horizontally. Your second-worst enemy is adrenaline or an erratic amount of “gas.” Breathing vertically causes this. (Remember: Oxygen is used by the cells to release energy from the body’s energy stores.)
Homework: Check your shoulders. Sure, on a bigger breath, there’s going to be some movement; however, your shoulders shouldn’t be your inhale muscles exclusively. Consciously taking a Lower-body Breath is giving you a significantly bigger breath, and neurologically, a calming one.
4. Exhale: Troubleshoot hyperventilating. All too often, people brace when they’re in competitive situations, which can lead to over-breathing/hyperventilating afterward.
Homework: Rather than tell yourself to “breathe,” say, “exhale.”
5. If your sport relies on precision, learn to recognize and expand the stillness in the last second of the exhale. In precision sports like archery, golf, or shooting, if you don’t replicate the breath exactly with your “pre-shot routine,” you’re leaving a big factor to chance, which can make for infuriating inconsistencies.
Homework: When doing the Recovery Breathing meditation, bring attention to the stillness that you feel between breaths.
Before my tournament, I do some of the breathing skills Dr. Belisa taught me, and it puts me in a perfect mental state to dismantle my competition. After she started working with me, as a brown belt I fought seven matches in the NAGA No-Gi Expert division without breaking a sweat or having my guard passed even once. I used my breathing techniques anytime I was in a tight position. The breathing exercises that Dr. Belisa taught me were able to put me into a mental state that allowed me to have incredible endurance. —Mike, age 27
65 “In fact the supply of oxygen becomes a secondary objective of breathing during heavy exercise, when the emphasis of its role switches to getting rid of the by-products of exercise, carbon dioxide” (Alison McConnell, Breathe Strong, Perform Better, p. 68).
66 For a detailed study on this subject, see Craig A. Harms et al., “Effects of Respiratory Muscle Work on Exercise Performance,” Journal of Applied Physiology 89, no. 1 (2000): 1131–38.
67 Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer,” constantly tells dog owners to stay calm and assertive. On an episode that aired on March 18 this year, I taught an anxious dog owner to breathe in a “calm but assertive” way.
68 Big wave surfer and waterman Laird Hamilton is a strong proponent of “having a good relationship with your breath” as a way to control anxiety. Take a look online at his underwater workouts if you’re tired of working out on land.
69 However, given that breath-holding as a dysfunctional breathing style (“e-mail apnea”) is epidemic nowadays, for beginners I focus on the importance of keeping their breath fluid and balanced/ongoing.
70 During a workshop I conducted for the DEA in San Diego, an agent described his breath-hold as being necessary when going into a dangerous situation. Breathing can obstruct the ability to hear subtle movements when entering a silent room.
71 Another way of saying that anxiety breath-holding spells are bad not only for you but others around you is often heard in the equine world, from a trainer to a rider: “Stop holding your breath—you are scaring the horse.”
72 What is better: hollowing or bracing? Bracing is the right way. For more on this, go to www.t-nation.com/training/freakish-strength-with-proper-core-training .
73 Check out his book Running on Air.
74 The gym grunt has a purpose (unless it’s an overly dramatic attentionseeking grunt). This same grunt is essential in tennis and at the apex of a sharp turn in skiing. We also hear a version of it in ancient martial arts, precipitating contact, in an effort to have the breath “guide” and reinforce the force.