Hey Team,
If you’re reading this then the chance of you breathing is, well, pretty high. But what if I told you that breathing, something we seem to effortlessly do all day long, could be better?
It’s true. Is your mouth open right now? How many seconds are there between each inhale and exhale? Can you sleep through the night breathing solely through your nose? What about while you workout? These are just a few areas to check in on to see if you’re getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to the some 20,000 breaths you take each day.
Here are three tips to improve the efficiency of your breathing that can ultimately help decrease the oxidative stress on your body long term:
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Switch to nasal breathing
Your nose was designed to breathe, your mouth was designed to eat and drink. Leveraging the mouth as both a primary breathing passage and food passage brings an increased risk of bodily dysfunction and overtime, may even play a role in the risk of chronic disease. We touch on this in the latest episode of the pod. Nasal breathing can help facilitate optimal breathing patterns, leading to parasympathetic activation, increased oxygen uptake, improved lung volume, and better respiratory function. You can learn more about the top four benefits of nasal breathing and the science behind the theory here. Looking for a cheat code? Try mouth tape. It may look and sound a bit daunting at first, give it a go at your desk or in waking hours first to begin to reroute signals from the brain to breathe predominantly from the nose. Trust me on this one, it works.
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Incorporate intentional breathwork daily
You’ve probably heard this one a lot in the recent months, maybe years, and for good reason. DYK? Even professional athletes are adopting breathwork as part of their routine, some going as far as adding breath guides to their performance team. You don’t need to be a pro to focus on breath and the best part about breathing? It’s free. You’ve just got to be willing to dedicate the time to finding the best practices that work for you. Establishing a daily breathwork routine has the ability to ease muscle tension, anxiety, heightened emotions and stress, but can also create space for your mind to explore ideas, thoughts and emotions that otherwise go suppressed throughout your day. We’ll dig into a few specific practices you can try at home in an upcoming letter as well as an Instagram live, but until then, reserve just 5-minutes a day. After a slew of zoom calls, first thing in the morning, winding down for bed, or trading off a few minutes of phone scrolling. Stop, set a timer for 5:00, close your eyes, and take slow, long breaths through your nose for five minutes straight. Take note of how you feel after.
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Focus on breathing patterns during movement
This is a big one. How much are you really noticing your breath during a lift, run, or even stretch? Historically in strength, there’s the recommendation of inhaling prior to the exertion of a rep, and exhaling to complete said rep. During a deadlift for example, you’re gripping the bar, sitting back into your hips, taking a breath through the full 360º of your core, maintaining that brace as you lift the bar off the floor, and exhaling at the top of the rep. While running, the goal is to maintain an upright, engaged position with the core while focusing on an even, steady breath. And stretching? It depends. Attending a yoga class can help you get into the habit of what feels best for breathing cues in a stretch. If you’re after a slower, deeper practice, known as “yin”, then your goal is to maintain slow and controlled breathing throughout each stretch. This playlist, with Doctor of Physical Therapy, Kristen Lettenberger, goes deep into how to build your core from the ground up by first tuning in to your breath.
We spend so much time optimizing our movements patterns and tweaking our diets, but don’t forget about the 7.5 million breaths your body is producing annually.
Until next week. 👋
Danielle Bitts
VP of Brand, Bodybuilding.com
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