Proper, deep breathing is critical to physical and mental health. It calms the nerves, centers the mind, and feeds hungry muscles with much-needed oxygen.
Try these breathing exercises to help maximize each and every breath during your workout:
Deep Breathing: The Basics
Deep breathing happens by way of diaphragmatic action. Your diaphragm is a dome-like muscle situated below your ribs and above your stomach. To breathe deeply and properly, relax your shoulders while sitting or standing. Inhale slowly and deeply, allowing your belly to relax as you do.
Practice inhaling and exhaling completely, trying not to involve your upper chest. Focus on relaxing you belly completely and allowing your diaphragm to expand freely.
With practice, this type of breathing becomes automatic.
Proper Breathing Exercises for Working Out
Every exercise or compound movement has two basic phases: concentric and eccentric, also called positive and negative. The concentric phase entails the strenuous part of the exercise (the pushing or pulling part), during which primary muscles contract. The goal for proper breathing is to exhale in this phase.
During a bicep curl, for example, lifting/curling is concentric (breathe out). As you lower the weight, breathe in.
With a shoulder press, breathe out as you press, and breathe in as you lower the weight.
If you’re doing crunches, breathe out as you curl in/upward, and breathe in as you return to resting position.
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