From a strictly yogic perspective pranayama practices are designed to manipulate the flow of energy in the subtle body in order to still the mind as we seek to transcend material existence…!
However when approached correctly, yogic breathing techniques also provide many practical benefits, including improving athletic and sporting performance. So here are 4 ways of working with the breath that will help you to perform better in your chosen sport, whether you’re a high end athlete seeking competitive advantage or a weekend warrior looking to improve your park run time.
1. Breathe through your nose
Nasal breathing helps to strengthen our respiratory muscles by creating resistance to air flow.
It also helps to improve the efficiency of oxygen delivery to our muscles by ensuring that there’s sufficient presence of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. Efficient oxygen uptake is determined not by blood oxygen saturation - which tends to sit at 95%+ - but by the presence of sufficient levels of carbon dioxide to stimulate the release of oxygen from haemoglobin in red blood cells (known as the Bohr effect and referred to as the ‘Oxygen Paradox’ by Patrick McKeown).
Moreover, when we breathe through the nose it stimulates the production of nasal nitric oxide which has the effect of dilating the blood vessels, improving circulation of oxygen carrying red blood cells to the body’s tissues.
So whilst our natural tendency when we exercise will likely be to take ‘big’ breaths in through the mouth, this is actually counterproductive to optimising athletic performance. Admittedly it can be very challenging at first to retrain the body to breathe through the nose when we feel like we’re struggling for air, but it will reap benefits over time. A good way to begin is by consciously breathing through your nose when you take a brisk walk
2. Slow down your respiratory rate
Taking long, slow, full breaths (but not ‘big’ breaths into the chest - see above) also helps to improve oxygen uptake by ensuring that more air reaches the alveoli and that proportionally less air remains in the ‘dead space’ (dead space is the amount of air that is inhaled but does not take part in gaseous exchange).
Indeed, in a recent interview James Nestor (the author of ‘Breath’) suggested that when we slow our respiratory rate to 6 breaths per minute we absorb 85% of the oxygen vs. just 50% when we breathe at 18 - 20 breaths per minute.
Breathing in this way also helps to stimulate our parasympathetic rest and digest response, aiding recovery from training and calming the mind, thus improving focus.
And deep breathing has many other benefits too including improving lung capacity, and stabilising the spine which allows us to move more efficiently.
3. Practice resisted breathing exercises
When we take resisted breathing exercises (for example closing one nostril, or partly closing both nostrils) we create additional resistance to airflow, further strengthening our respiratory muscles and increasing our tolerance to carbon dioxide.
When we explore these practices we are seeking to create a tolerable level of ‘air hunger’ (the desire to breathe deeper) - when we feel this we know that we’re increasing the pressure of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream. As our system adapts over time to become more tolerant to carbon dioxide, the efficiency of oxygen uptake to muscles will increase accordingly (as explained above).
4. Explore breath holds
Another way of increasing our tolerance to carbon dioxide is by exploring breath holds. A word of caution however - these should not be practised if you suffer from high blood pressure or if you’re pregnant, and they should never be practised in water!
Extreme breath holds can also trigger anxiety so it’s definitely best to start small…‘box breathing’* is a good way to begin your exploration.
In box breathing we inhale to a count of 4, retain the inhalation to a count of 4, exhale to a count of 4 and then hold the breath out to a count of 4. Very simple…repeat for 5 - 10 minutes (you can also see the video above for a guided exploration).
An additional benefit of holding the breath after an exhalation is that it stimulates the spleen to release more oxygen carrying red blood cells, thus increasing the oxygen capacity of the blood...in effect stimulating the effects of high altitude training.
So there we have 4 ways of working with the breath to improve athletic and sporting performance. Like most practices they require consistent and regular practice over time to begin to realise the benefits - so stick at it and you’ll start to see improvements in the weeks and months ahead. And if you have any questions about these practices, or if you’d like to work together to optimise your breathing, then please do get in touch.
Much of the information above is taken from, or inspired by, the work of Patrick McKeown, author of The Oxygen Advantage and The Breathing Cure.
* In yoga we refer to box breathing as samavritti (‘same fluctuation’) pranayama (control of life force) with antara kumbhaka (internal breath retention) and bahya kumbhaka (external breath retention)