Correct way of breathing while exercising

We all know that we can live without food and water for several days but we cannot live without breathing for even 1 minute. Thus, oxygen is most important for survival. Role of breathing becomes even more important when we are exercising or doing some arduous physical work. This is not a new concept; the importance of breathing was well established by Patanjali in 400 BC by introducing yoga. In yoga, the major focus is on breathing pattern i.e. how we inhale and exhale air, how many times we have to inhale and exhale and how quickly or slowly we have to inhale and exhale.

When we exercise our muscles demand a greater than usual amount of oxygen to work efficiently. So we breathe faster than usual and this hyperventilating reduces the effectiveness of our routine by making us tired quickly and we are unable to get the desire result. In weightlifting, holding the breath is known as the Valsalva Maneuver. It limits oxygen delivery to the muscles and brain leading to fainting, dizziness, painful exercise-induced headaches, and sometimes a stroke.

So what is the correct way of breathing? Ideally we should do “belly” or diaphragmatic breathing. To do it, we should simply breathe in deeply enough so that our belly (not your chest) rises, then falls as we exhale. Belly breathing keeps your blood pressure low and allows for better oxygen delivery to your muscles. We should exhale while we are doing the movement which requires maximum effort, and inhale as we come back to the original position. For example, when we do crunches while we are crunching forward we should exhale because this will require effort and while we are going down we should inhale because going down is easy and gravity helps us in going down.  Similarly, we should exhale as we lower to the ground during a squat and inhale when we return to the starting position.                                             

While this said, it is not possible that every time we do a movement we can employ a diaphragmatic breathing. This is because, in diaphragmatic breathing we have to take deep breathes and this deep breathing takes more than usual time than normal breathing. This can be frustrating. Thus, the judgement of how deep one should breathe during a single movement should be left to individual himself but the movements should be slow and steady for proper execution and for proper breathing to achieve the progress we want. 

To understand the importance of breathing you can also watch never back down, and please don’t end up watching this movie by seeing only amber heard. Man she is hot.