Introduction to Breathwork for athletes
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Thank you for your interest and giving me the opportunity to share my knowlege and experience with you on how to simply improve your physical and mental performance.
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Our breath is an interesting thing. It serves as a way of our body to communicate with the outside world and works in two ways.
It is automated to bring oxygen into our body to function properly. If we don’t breathe, we die. So, it is vital that it is automated and that we don’t have to think about it.
However, we can also consciously control and change our breath.
Have you ever noticed how our breathing changes, depending on our we feel? For example, if we are scared, anxious or excited, our breathing rate will increase. This will move us into a state of ‘fight and flight’ (activates our sympathetic nervous system).
When we are in the ‘fight and flight’ our body gets ready for action. Our heartrate increases, we feel warmer, we may feel a bit sick and, we find it harder to think clearly and focus. We are likely to lose our appetite and have a dry mouth.
On the other hand, when we become calmer, our breathing slows down, we enter the ‘rest and digest’ (activate the parasympathetic nervous system). our heartrate decreases, saliva gathers in our mouth, our appetite returns, and we can think clearly and focus.
So, our breathing reacts to the state we find ourselves in, triggered by our our environment and situations.
BUT, with conscious, controlled breathing, we can also impact our state, how we feel and how our body reacts. And this is what breathwork is. We take control.
We humans are unique. We are the only creatures who can consciously change their breathing and therefore take control of their state. -
Chest breathing activates ‘fight and flight’ (sympathetic nervous system) and only uses 30% of our lung capacity.
Belly breathing activates ‘rest and digest’ (parasympathetic nervous system) and 100% of lung capacity is used – maximizing oxygen intake.Mouth breathing activates chest breathing. Too much moisture is lost through mouth breathing, which leads to dehydration quicker. Mouth breathing leads to overbreathing – taking in too much air, releasing too much carbon dioxide.
Nose breathing activates belly breathing, which activates the ‘rest and digest’ (para-sympathetic nervous system). The nose filters the air (less chance of picking up viral and bacterial infections) and warms and humidifies the air ready for the lungs.
Reduces air intake - avoiding overbreathing.
Our ancestors only converted to mouth breathing, activating their ‘fight and flight’ when faced with dangerous situation in preparation for intensive physical activity. Unfortunately, in today’s world a ‘fight and flight’ response is often not accompanied by intensive physical activity which would allow our bodies to revert back to normal.
Focus on your breathing when ever possible, making sure you are breathing through the nose at all times, (watching TV or doing homework)
To breathe efficiently during exercise you need to master breathing efficiently at rest first. -
Anything that increases body oxygenation will be of great benefit to to improve our physical and mental performance.
We breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide (CO2). Oxygen attaches itself to the red blood cells.
CO2 is often seen as a waste gas, but levels of CO2 are required for the oxygen to be released from the red blood cells to the muscle tissue where it is most needed (Bohr Effect)… further details are widely available online.
Over-breathing for periods of time (days/weeks) removes more CO2 than necessary, increasing the sensitivity CO2 – we find it harder tolerate CO2.
CO2 is what triggers the need to breathe. Being very sensitive to CO2 will lead to overbreathing.
Lowering the sensitivity to CO2 will increase the body’s ability to carry more oxygen and to deliver oxygen to the working muscles.
This will increase endurance and improve breathing economy.
We will feel more energetic, alert and focused.
With a higher CO2 tolerance, we can work harder with far less effort
For outstanding performance, it is vital that our breathing doesn’t react to strongly. -
To find out how carbon dioxide tolerance you are, you can do a Body Oxygen Test (BOLT) or also know as the Breath Hold Time (BHT) test.
This measures how quickly your body reacts to the rise of CO2 in your body. This is not a test how long you can hold your breath.
The Body Oxygen Level Test should be done soon after waking or when you have been at rest for at least 10 minutes.
Take a normal breath in and out of your nose. Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs. Time the number seconds until you feel the first definite desire to breathe. Release your nose, stop the timer, and breathe in through your nose. Your inhalation at the end of the breath hold should be calm.
Resume normal breathing. -
The first time you do your BOLT, you may be surprised to find your score is lower than expected. But even elite athletes can have a low BOLT score.
Below 10 sec : Your everyday breathing is noisy, irregular, and laboured. You sigh or yawn a lot and sleep is disrupted, leaving you fatigued.
10-20 secs: Your breathing may be compromised by a blocked nose, wheezing, or coughing. Your sleep is disrupted. Your energy and concentration are poor.
20-30 secs: Your normal breathing is quiet, calm, and effortless. A BOLT score of around 20 seconds is good. But there are benefits for health and fitness if you can improve it even more.
30-40 secs: As an athlete you should aim to reach a BOLT score of 40 to optimise performance.You can improve your BOLT score with simple steps.
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Improving your BOLT / BHT score will result in:
Improved sleep and energy
Easier breathing with reduced breathlessness during exercise
Naturally increased production of red blood cells
Improved oxygenation of working muscles and organs
Reduction of lactic acid build up and fatique
Improved running economy and VO2 max
Improved aerobic performance
Improved anaerobic performance
There are various ways to improve your BOLT / BHT score:
Stop loosing CO2 through mouthbreating, sighing and yawning too much
Reduced breathing exercises
Simulating high altitude training / Intermittent hypoxic training