Understanding the Essential Role of Deep Breathing in Exercise
The Europeans state that Americans are shallow breathers. While they may also truncate this statement and simple state that "Americans are shallow," the real truth that is undeniable: Americans don't know how to breathe properly.
One item is clear in all of my fitness classes is my constant mantra at each and every class about deep breathing. Why? Because deep breathing is critical. Not only should you be working on your lung capacity but you also should be exhaling to literally clean your blood cells. Exhalation has been shown in research to actually clean the blood cells! Both of these facts mean we need to learn how to breathe deeply.
What Is Diaphragmatic Breathing?
Breathing is the only way we can intake oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from our body. The process of this exchange occurs in what is called the alveoli.
"The alveoli are tiny air sacs within the lungs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place."
Diaphragmatic breathing is deep breathing all the way through to the diaphragm. Also called the abdominal breathing, some call it belly breathing. Essentially diaphragmatic breathing is engaging your diaphragm rather than taking shallow breaths at the top of your lungs. With diaphragmatic breathing you will feel your abs or stomach muscles move.
For vocalists, diaphragmatic breathing is often called power breathing. This is the source for being able to project their voices, whether singing or speaking. The power is in the expansion of the lungs all the way through to engaging the diaphragm.
The difference between the two types of breathing may be subtle but very critical to the exchange of oxygen into our systems.
Often used in therapy and relaxation including yoga and meditations.
In many ways, diaphragmatic breathing is another range of motion for the body, only this time the stretching is the lungs rather than a group of muscle tissue.
Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing
A quick reference to Wikipedia details what is actually exchanged:
"The air we inhale is roughly 78%
by volume nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.96% argon and 0.04% carbon dioxide,
water, and other gases.
The permanent gases in gas we exhale are roughly 4% to 5% more carbon dioxide and 4% to 5% less oxygen than was inhaled. Additionally vapors and trace gases are present: 5% water vapor, several parts per million (ppm) of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, 1 part per million (ppm) of ammonia and less than 1 ppm of acetone, methanol, ethanol (unless ethanol has been ingested, in which case much higher concentrations would occur in the breath, cf. Breathalyzer) and other volatile organic compounds.
The exact amount of exhaled oxygen and carbon dioxide varies according to the fitness, energy expenditure and diet of that particular person."
3D View of the Diaphragmatic Breathing
Yoga Deep Breathing Techniques
Still believe I am full of hot air? Don't trust me, trust Joseph Pilate who includes deep breathing as one of the six principles, trust the body builders who build muscle, and trust the Yoga instructor.
Interestingly, one of the first uses of deep breathing was in strength training. Form is critical, however, proper breathing exhaling with the exertion is just as critical as proper form. The goal is to increase the muscle size and the research has proven the muscle demands oxygen.
Exercise professionals across the board from Pilate's to Yoga to Body Builders know the value of the lungs to the human body. We must train our muscles including our heart and our lungs too!
Who Needs Deep Breathing or Power Breathing?
Every single living human being. Remember, it is the oxygen exchange that expels the carbon dioxide and cleanses. On a more practical level, here are the direct benefits for different occupations and avocations:
- Public speakers benefit by having complete control of their breath thus allowing them to speak fully with poise and and self-confidence.
- Singers, and voice-over artists benefit from control of their breath in not only avoiding kicking a word but also serves to eliminate pauses and provide proper emphasis including loudness and vocal tone.
- All athletes benefit from greater lung power.
- Managers benefit from greater stress control.
- Seniors benefit from greater endurance especially notable in taking the stairs or tackling steep inclines. This too, may in turn prevent injuries from falls.
Resistance Training and Proper Breathing
Proper breathing techniques are essential when training. Never hold your breath. Inhale at the beginning of the lift and exhale during the release of each weight.
Aerobics and Target Toning Demands Both The Heart and Lungs
If you are using your heart as you do in all cardio and even resistance exercise, the partner organ to your heart of course is your lungs. Breathe, consciously, breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
The Exhale Is Your Cleansing
When you exhale, you are cleansing your body. Think of a vacuum cleaner and blowing all of the bad elements out.
Three Great Tips on Exhaling
- Exhaling: When you exhale it should be through your mouth.
- Exhale twice as long as you iInhale. Count and you breathe in and out. Start with a count of 2:4, inhale for 2, exhale for 4; move up to an inhale of 3 and exhale of double that - a count of 6.
- Exhale during exertion—the Two EEs. This is important in target toning and body building. I remember it by visualizing two "ee"s together.
True Benefits of Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is great for stress relief and all of us are stressed. Although I did have a wonderful client once confide to me that life for her in retirement was simply wonderful and she hoped someday I would retire and also be completely stress free. Do people like this really exist? She must be one in a 100 billion!
Another benefit is of course our lungs are an organ. If you exercise, if you consciously choose to breath deeply whether you are performing either aerobic or anaerobic exercises, you will increase your lung capacity.
One of the best compliments I have ever received as a fitness instructor (keep in mind, I am teased heavily by my group of clients for my breathing mantras) was a lady who has taken water aerobics for over two decades stated she started the deep breathing and within two weeks of my class she noticed a difference. She stated it was especially evident for her when she was climbing stairs in her house. I was thrilled so therefore, I continue with my constant mantra of breath deeply....in through the nose....out through the mouth.
Visualize Deep Breathing—Imagine breathing all the way down to your "diaphragm" - see the above image which showcases the diaphragm in your body. Your diaphragm is just under your lungs. Your goal is to completely fill your lungs, breathe deeply through your nose, hold and then exhale through your mouth. The abdominal muscles protect the spine and act like a supportive corset for our entire trunk. Contracting your abdominal builds muscles but also gives us that protective support that we need for our precious spine. Imagine a full deep breath, visualize lengthening the spine with the breath.
Breathing Affects Your State of Mind
If you are unflappable, you are in a state of mind with complete self confidence. During my communications classes the very first item I instruct my students is the winning item for business and trial attorneys is the state of mind of being unflappable. You cannot be a shallow breather IF you are self confident.
Exercise for Diaphragmic Breathing
This exercise will help you feel the lateral expansion of the ribcage with the breath:
- Wrap about 3 feet of exercise band around the lower part of your ribcage. You can also use a length of elastic or just wrap your hands around your ribcage.
- Hold the band closed in front of your chest.
- Inhale: Let the breath travel down your spine and expand into your back and sides so you feel the band is stretched, side and back, by your breath.
Next: Practice breathing fully with the Pilate's Fundamentals set
While lateral breathing is the technique to use when you want to keep your abs in during an inhale, we are talking about training the abs here. We don't want to have our abs contracted all the time.
Diaphragmatic breathing with a natural extension of the belly on an inhale, is still the healthiest way to breathe regularly.
Breathing very fully, taking advantage of every breath cycle to draw in lots of fresh air and get rid of every bit of stale air. We want to oxygenate our blood, get our circulation going, and get the rejuvenating qualities that a deep breath delivers.
In Pilates, the breath is a foundation. In strength training, deep breathing is fundamental. So too, for our exercise program we must be encouraged and reminder to breath deeply.
We should be using our breath to initiate and support our exercise movements.
Fat Loss and Breathing—A Myth
This is pure myth. You may hear it from giant celebrities but they are making noise. There is no known clinical studies to prove this. If you consider deep breathing a stress relief and you associate food with stress relief then you may have something but fat loss is simply diet and exercise. There is no magical method other than hard work for fat loss. Additionally, just maintaining your weight is allot of hard work. I often say it is not a daily challenge, it is a challenge posed to us each hourly!
How to Breathe, Full Lung Exercises, Oxygentate
Measure Breathing - Volumetric of Breathing
Breathing Tools and Pulmonary Fun
As a reader in the comments detailed, there might be more exercises and more tools available. A couple of items came up and are provided below:
- Pulmonary Harmonica—The pulmonary harmonica is something that I had never heard of before.
- Volumetric—Measures exhale and inhale physical abilities. The volumetric that I was tested upon and trained in 1976 at Mayo Clinic was actually in retrospect (isn't everything romantic in retrospect?!) more fun with multiple ping bong balls.
- New World of Pulmonary Exercise Fun—Imagine what we could do today with apps and technology. We could do an arm wrestle but with our lungs! So who really has the most hot air to offer!? That would make deep breathing more of a game than an exercise that is good for our body and our mind!
Questions & Answers
© 2010 Kelly A Burnett