Just like we strength train our hamstrings and glutes we can train our diaphragm and intercostal muscles for deeper breathing. The diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen, is the most important muscle used for inhalation. The intercostal muscles help move the rib cage and assist in breathing.

Most of the runners take shallow breaths and practice chest breathing. Chest breathing can be a hard habit to kick since most of us spend many hours hunched over our computers, shortening the chest muscles, inhibiting deep breathing. A good way to switch to deep belly breathing is to do breathing exercises when you are not running.

Here are a few exercises that every runner should be doing.

Belly Breathing

Belly breathing activates your diaphragm. You can practice this exercise in a seated position or lying down on your back. Lying down on the floor is a better option because gravity isn’t working against your body.

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.
• Place one hand on your belly and one on your chest.
• Inhale as deeply as you can. Imagine filling up your belly like a balloon.
• Deflate the balloon, emptying all the air from your stomach.
• Take 8 – 10 breaths for a pre-run warm-up or any time of the day.

Combination Breathing

Second breathing exercise is combination breathing with pursed lips. Combination breathing makes breathing slower and intentional. Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

• Come into a seated position or lay down on the floor.
• Inhale through your nose for two seconds.
• Purse your lips like you’re blowing a candle and exhale for 4-6 seconds.
• Repeat this exercise 8-10 times.

Rhythmic Breathing 

This breathing exercise is my favorite because you can do it while running. Try to practice a 3:2 breathing rhythm. Inhale for 3 strides and exhale for 2. Every time you exhale you will land on different foot. This breathing pattern reduces the chances of injury and muscle imbalance.  It’s a great technique for increasing lung capacity.

• Inhale through your nose.
• Take 3 steps on inhale and 2 steps on exhale.
• Repeat for 10 breath cycles and repeat as you can.
• Try to increase the number of breath cycles in each round.

References

• doi: 1177/1941738112445871

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Ian is qualified as a Certified Yoga Teacher; Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher and he is well on the way to obtaining his 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate.  Ian is a Koru Mindful Meditation Teacher-in-Training. He has coached youth soccer and ran half-marathon running clinics.

All tone and strengthen class are recorded and recordings are made available for two days following the classes.

*Yoga Mat and two blocks are suggested for this class *

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Religious devotees, athletes, monks, and warriors all understand the wonders and power of breath. Zen monks and yoga warriors use it to achieve clarity of mind. Athletes use it to get a competitive advantage. Navy seals use it to achieve higher focus and stay calm.

Simply being more attentive about how you breathe can have benefits for well-being. There are many ways to practice mindful breathing. Finding the proper breathing technique and incorporating it into your daily life can help you reap the benefits of deep conscious breathing.

In this blog post, you will find some of the best and most helpful breathing techniques.

Belly Breathing- Belly breathing or deep diaphragmatic breathing is an easy way to release stress and relax. Diaphragmatic breathing is used to relieve breathing conditions like asthma, pneumonia, and other lung diseases.

• Sit or lie in a comfortable position.
• Put one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest.
• Take a deep breath in through your nose and feel your belly expand.
• Gently push the air out through pursed lips.
• Repeat this exercise 5-10 times.
• Notice how you feel at the end of the exercise.

4-7-8 Breathing- This breathing technique is suitable for relaxation. It shifts your body into a state of deep relaxation.

• To start, put one hand on your belly and the other on your
• Take a deep, slow breath from your belly for a four-count.
• Pause, and silently count from 1 to 7.
• Breathe out for an eight count. Trying to expel all the air out.
• Repeat this exercise 5-10 times.

Alternate Nostril Breathing- It is also known as the Anulom Vilom pranayama(breathing exercise) in Sanskrit. This breathing exercise is known to clean nostrils and sinuses. Research has shown that it can help stimulate the left and right sides of the brain simultaneously.

• Come into a comfortable seated position.
• Place the thumb and ring finger on alternate nostrils.
• Place the index and big finger on your forehead.
• Close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly, fill your lungs with air.
• Remove your thumb and, using your ring finger, close your left nostril and exhale.
• Repeat for 8-12 breath cycles or as long as desired.

Box Breathing- Box breathing can regulate the autonomic nervous system. This system regulates involuntary body functions such as temperature and blood pressure. It provides an almost immediate sense of calm and focus. Army officers use it intense situations.

• Come into a comfortable seated position.
• Sitting tall with a long spine, slowly inhale for a four count. Feel the air fill your lungs completely while expanding your abdomen.
• Hold the breath to a count of 4.
• Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 4. Getting all the oxygen out of your lungs and assign a count of 4.
• Hold the breath for a count of 4.

Modified Lion’s Breath- Lion’s breath is an energizing yoga breathing practice. It relieves tension in your chest and face. It’s also known in yoga as simhasana in Sanskrit.

While performing this breathing technique, imagine that you’re a lion. Let all your breath out with a big, open mouth.

• Come into a comfortable seated position.
• Breathe in through your nose. Fill your belly all the way up like a balloon.
• Open your mouth as wide as you can. Breathe out with a “HA” sound.
• Repeat for 8-15 breath cycles or as much as desired.

Take the time to experiment with different types of breathing techniques. Schedule breathing breaks in your daily calendar can help you stick with the breathing practice.

All these breathing practices can be progressively built up over time. That means you can start with a few breaths cycles each day and then add on the number of breath cycles weekly for longer mindful breathing practice.

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This is the fourth blog of the Exploring the Wonder of Breath blog series. In previuos blogs we discussed the science behind breathing and the benefits of breathing. Today we will discuss how breathing can a vital performance enhancement tool.

Close your eyes and notice your breath for a few seconds. How is your breathing? Deep, shallow, or somewhere in between. Now slow down your breathing for the subsequent few breath cycles and be aware of how you feel.

The way we breathe has a massive impact on sports performance. Whether you are a recreational athlete or an elite athlete, your breath can play a huge role in your performance if you want to perform at your top game.

It’s also essential for coaches and athletic trainers to know that breathing exercises are valuable for athlete’s performance. Breathing deficiencies are more common than most coaches realize. Coaches give workouts to improve cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility of their athletes. But many coaches have forgotten the role breath can play for their athletes’ performance.

Research has suggested that a proper running rhythm with breath – the coordination between breathing and strides – helps improve exercise efficiency and postpone fatigue. A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology in 1995 found that at anaerobic intensities, the degree of coordination between running and breathing rhythms is high in endurance-trained athletes. The degree of stride coordination increased with the increasing regularity of breathing. This study was conducted on ten triathletes, six sprinters, and ten subjects not trained in running (controls) to assess the effects of training history. Another study performed at the University of Portsmouth in 2011, which observed 12 runners over six weeks, found that athletes who included breathing exercises as part of their training improved their times by 5-12 %.

For the elite cyclist, Greg LeMond, breathing was the way to get faster. Greg LeMond was the first American to win Tour de France in 1989. Greg LeMond built his breathing capacity by employing belly breathing and using his diaphragm to efficiently draw maximum oxygen.

There are two significant energy-providing systems in the body: aerobic and anaerobic. Endurance athletes primarily rely on aerobic energy. Aerobic energy is derived from mitochondrial cells, which aid in oxygen exchange. Anaerobic power comes from glucose provided by the food metabolism. Both means of energy are essential, but our bodies mostly use aerobic energy. The amount of air we intake in comparison to food supports this fact. On average, human adults consume 4 pounds of food, 5 pounds of water, and 30 pounds of air.

When an elite cyclist like LeMond is riding in Tour de France or even when you are running a 5K, the breathing pump moves faster and more often. During exercise, the body’s demand for oxygen increases, and so does the breathing volume. As the intensity of exercise increases, the respiratory muscles have to contract more forcefully at a rapid rate to keep up with the body’s increased metabolic demands. The key to performance enhancement breathing is to slow down the breathing rate and take fuller breaths from the nose. When the exhale is emphasized with our diaphragms, it not only clears out a lot of Carbon dioxide but leaves space in the diaphragm for the next oxygen intake. The trick is to employ the full capacity of your diaphragm for more efficient oxygen intake. In the same way that a stronger heart can push out more blood with each pump, a more muscular diaphragm translates to a slower breathing rate and get more oxygen to your muscles.

When we are taking shallow breaths, we not only tax our thoracic pumping system, but we engage only 10 percent of the diaphragm’s capacity. Shallow breathing can have many causes, like posture, stress, anxiety, and physical restriction. Shallow breathing results in creating a physiological stress response which leads to more problems like poor posture and sports performance.

A good place to start is to try focusing on breathing through your nose. Breath for about 5 seconds and exhale for the same amount of time. Doing this exercise while running or riding will develop a better breathing pattern. Supplementing with mouth breathing, as needed, when you first start practicing deeper breathing is essential. Soon you will be able to have a continuous nose breathing streak. Deep breathing during exercise can increase lung power and can improve an athlete’s efficiency by up to 10%. For a runner, running an hour race, that translates to shaving off 4 to 6 minutes off their race timing. Now that’s an improvement I will take for all my races.

Breathing during sports events not only helps you a more efficient athlete, it improves focus as well. Plus, practicing deep breathing before an event will reduce anxiety and insomnia, giving you an edge on race day. Try to practice deep breathing every day while working out or just throughout the day.

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This is the third blog in our Exploring the Wonder of Breath series. In the first two blogs, we discussed deep breathing mechanics, and benefits of deep breathing. In this blog, we will take a deep dive into breathing as a tool for stress management. Who can’t use destressing techniques in today’s day and age?

Are you overworked, sleep-deprived, anxious, and stressed? You are not alone. I am right there with you. The only issue is, I have been investing a big chunk of my paycheck on fancy spa treatments for relaxing. Spa treatments have their place, but if you are looking for a more long-term solution, keeps reading this blog.

Fortunately, there are many ways to let go of stress and gain calmness without a hefty price tag. The best relaxation method is entirely free. All you need is your breath and some free time to practice deep breathing.

The deep breathing practice isn’t new to humans. According to ancient Indian scripture, deep breathing brings “prana” or energy to us. In ancient Chinese culture, it’s called “Qi” – energy that flows through our bodies. The concept of breath has been prominent in many other ancient civilizations, including Egyptian-ka, Hebrew-Nefesh, Greek-psuchē, and Latin anima. These cultures believed that by breathing with control and depth, we could find clarity of mind and focus energy for living a better-balanced life.

This ancient science behind deep breathing still holds. Research shows that deep breathing exercises keep the mind and body strong by lowering blood pressure, promoting relaxation, and relieving stress. If you think about breathing when you are stressed out, you take quick and shallow breaths. By living with intention, we can activate our parasympathetic nervous system and help our bodies relax. Breathing is affected by our autonomic nervous system. When we take shallow breaths, the breath stops at the top of the lungs and activates the sympathetic nervous system since the top part of the lungs is connected to nerves that communicate with the sympathetic nervous system. The lower lobes of our lungs have nerves that connect to the sympathetic nervous system. So, deep, controlled, and extended breaths will activate those nerves.

Here are a few deep breathing techniques for destressing and finding calm and tranquility.

Equal Breathing- This breathing technique can help with taking your mind off the daily to-do list. It’s beneficial to practice it before going to bed to quiet your busy brain. How to do it:

• Inhale for four counts and then exhale for four counts while sitting comfortably or lying down.
• Your eyes can remain open or closed.
• Inhale and e through your nose throughout the practice.

Abdominal Breathing – this breathing technique is super helpful before a stressful event. Yes, I am talking about before your big presentation or an exam. How to do it:

• Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
• Take a deep breath in through your nose, allowing the breath to travel all the way down to the diaphragm and let your belly inflate.
• Exhale slowly, contracting the abdomen.

Try taking 6- 10 deep breaths for a minute every hour to reap the benefits.

Yoga- Yoga is built on the science of breathing. Yogic teachings of thousands of years focus on building Parana through breathwork. Later the yoga practice evolved to include asanas or physical postures coordinated with breathwork. The deep breathing practiced during yoga encourages us to live in the present. So, to destress and find calm laying down your yoga mat and going through a brief practice can help.

Learning these breathing techniques isn’t difficult, but practice is key to building momentum. Set aside a few minutes each day to practice deep breathing and say goodbye to stress.

The post Exploring the Wonder of Breath- Part 3 0 (0) first appeared on Tone & Strengthen.

Breathe in. Breathe out. This process continues during our life without a thought. At the same time, we spend our lives on autopilot, mostly tuned out of the present moment and disconnected from our breath. We ignore the power of breath that gives us life. Our modern life demands multitasking and multiple jobs. All this so that we can check things off the to-do list. Oh yes, I know you have that list in front of you right now? You know why? Because I carry my lists everywhere too. While a healthy dose of determination can be good, too much obsession isn’t good for our health in the long run.

The antidote to destressing and finding calm and focus isn’t hiking to the mountain top and meditating for hours. The antidote is our breath. Yes, precisely that thing you do on average 20,000 times a day. All you have to do is practice deep breathing.

Deep breathing is a simple exercise with numerous benefits. The extra oxygen that you inhale and slowing down the breathing rate does wonder for the body and mind. It purifies, opens, and calms our body and mind.

This is the second blog of our exploring the wonder of breath blog series. Want to learn the benefits of deep breathing? Then keep reading!

Reduced Anxiety & Depression- Deep breathing allows us to slow down the breathing rate, which doesn’t tax your respiratory system. Taking deep breaths slows the heart rate, increases oxygen intake, and signals the brain to relax.

Decreased Pain- Stress revs up the body’s pain response. Research shows that deep breathing releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals, in our brain. Endorphins are natural pain killers.

Detoxification- We all know that breathing releases carbon monoxide, a toxin for our bodies. But what you might be surprised to find out is that breathing is in charge of eliminating 70% of body toxins. Shallow breathing results in our body working overtime to release these toxins, taxing our body.

Enhanced Immunity- Deep breathing promotes better oxygenation. Oxygenated blood carries vital nutrients more efficiently. Nutrient transport and absorption are necessary for building immunity.

Improved Energy Levels- The increased oxygen levels in the bloodstream help increase your energy. The more energy you have, the better your mood will be, and you will feel more alert. It also improves our stamina. That means you can embrace those endurance activities.

Faster Recovery- Deep breathing improves the way the body responds to intense exercise. It helps the body adapt to strenuous workouts, and it reduces your chances of injury.

Lowers Blood Pressure- Deep breathing helps your muscles relax. Relaxed muscles lead to dilated blood vessels, which improve circulation and lowers blood pressure. Plus, the lower heart rate from deep breathing helps lowers the blood pressure.

Better Posture- Deep breaths are always accompanied by long and tall spine. The more you practice deep breathing, the better your posture will become. Breathing deeply also strengthens the core muscles, which leads to better posture.

Are you telling me you don’t have time for breathing exercises? Try to incorporate them into your daily routine by using the habit stacking technique, like right when you wake up and go to sleep, driving home from work, or before you eat lunch. By stacking it with something you already do, you can sneak in a few deep breaths for sure. Before you know it, deep breathing will become a strong habit, and you will be enjoying all the benefits mentioned above.

The post Exploring the Wonder of Breath – Part 2 0 (0) first appeared on Tone & Strengthen.

This breath helps us to build our bones, blood, muscles, brain, and organs. It nourishes every part of our body. Breathing fuels life.

How Do We Breathe? Breathing is a reflex; we do not have to think to breathe. The science behind breathing isn’t that simple. We inhale the oxygen into our lungs, down the bronchioles, and into alveoli and capillaries to reach our blood. The blood transports oxygen to almost every part of the body. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged between the blood and the air; oxygen is loaded onto the red blood cells while carbon dioxide is unloaded from them into the air.

There are 25 trillion red blood cells, holding 270 million hemoglobin molecules. Hemoglobin molecules pick up the oxygen. The respiratory center in the brainstem, medulla, controls the breathing rate.

The breathing process is nothing short of a magical feat.

The ancient civilizations honored the power of breathing and practiced deep and mindful breathing. Ancient societies understood what science is discovering now; our breath controls our nervous system, mental health, and well-being.

Chest Breathing- If the breath is an autonomic system, we are breathing all the time correctly. Right? The answer is NO! Our daily lives have gotten so busy with work stress, traffic jams, and relationship problems that our body is in a constant fight or flight stress mode. This continuous stress mode leads to high blood pressure, suppression of the immune system, plus anxiety and depression. Obviously, we can’t avoid all the stressors in life, but we can modify how we respond to these stressors. Breath is an essential tool to reduce stress and relax. We don’t realize how much our breathing affects our nervous system’s responses to everyday life stressors.

Newborns have a perfect breathing pattern. Babies naturally take deep diaphragmatic breaths, pulling the air into the lowermost lobes of their lungs. That’s why we always keep a hand on the baby’s belly to check their breathing during nap time.

As adults, we lose this instinctive breathing pattern. We rush our breathing. Mostly stopping our breath at our chest. Most of us over breath as a result and overtax our respiratory and nervous systems. Human adults breathing patterns have shifted because of environmental stressors. The repetitive thoracic breathing pattern sets off the sympathetic nervous system, the fight or flight system in our bodies. The sympathetic nervous system has it’s time and place, it not good to have it activated 24/7.

Deep Breathing Practice- It’s essential to adopt a deep breathing pattern for better health. Deep breathing is a great technique to lower stress. It flips the switch of our nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic.  There are different breathing techniques to bring about relaxation. The breathing technique described below is one of the simple ones that you can try anytime, anywhere.

• Find a quiet, relaxed environment without disturbances for five to ten minutes.
• Sit comfortably and open your chest. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen.
• Feel the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen.
• Spend the next few moments following the movement of your breath.
• Try to breathe in and out through the nose gently.
• Let the air fill your belly like a balloon, and then exhale deeply.
• With each breath, allow any tension in your body to slip away.
• Once your breathing is slow and deep, sit quietly and enjoy the calmness.

Try to set a reminder to check in with your breath a few times during your busy day. Focus on your breath and bring it back to the deep breathing state with each check-in. If you employ these breathing check-ins your daily routine, you will feel relaxed and have a better posture. Better posture is just a positive side-effect of abdominal breathing. Yes, you can thank me later.

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