Breath As Our Foundation

When we think of breathing, is it something we are truly engaged in? We exercise our arms and legs in the gym, but what about our breathing muscles? Are we breathing optimally?

“When we optimize our breathing, we can realize new levels of health, performance, fitness
and wellness.” XPT (Extreme Performance Training)

This quote, and coaching certification in XPT Performance Breathing has brought profound impact to my athletic ability, overall health/mindset, and personal development. Let me walk you through the basic foundational principles of breath, and then we can venture into the benefits of Performance Breathing.

The Nose: We should be breathing through our nose all day, every day, as much as possible. Our preferred passageway for air to enter and exit the body, brings air in through the nasal chamber, filtering out dust and bacteria, humidifying, and releasing naturally stored nitric oxide that increases our oxygen uptake into the blood by 10-20%.

The Diaphragm: Our main breathing muscle acts like a large piston in our thoracopelvic cylinder (TPC) (the area from our pelvic floor to the upper limits of our thoracic spine). When we inhale, the diaphragm contracts, pushing internal organs down, pulling lungs down, increasing the dimensions of our TPC 3-Dimensionally (expanding belly, transverse abdominus (partner of the diaphragm), obliques, intercostals, ribs, pecs, serratus, up into the backs of our shoulders), bringing oxygen into our system. When we exhale, we decrease the dimensions of our TPC from the top-down, the elasticity of our lungs returning things to their original shape, expelling CO2 from our system. Diaphragmatic breathing is sometimes referred to as belly breathing, as the area just below the navel is the focus of movement on inhalation (expanding out) and exhalation (rebounding in). Place one hand on your belly and one on your chest and feel the cycle of breath from bottom to top on inhalation, and top to bottom on exhalation.

Now, put these two elements together for what we simply call “the awareness of breath”, the foundation from which we should be basing all movement. Come back to these foundational principles routinely, in your day, your workout, your athletic venture, and notice the difference as you are calmer and more focused. Take this a few steps farther and expand your inhales and exhales to 4-5 seconds each, stretch a little more
and shoot for 6-7 seconds each. This is an ideal breathing rate (around 5-6 breaths per minute) that we should be striving for when at rest, truly bringing an awareness to our mind and body.

Breathing is the remote control to the brain…Control it!

Once we have established these basic foundational principles, we can train in Performance Breathing. These are exercises practiced daily, and/or as needed to increase focus, overall performance, improve C02 tolerance, increase respiratory muscle strength, and recover more efficiently. With these practices our “awareness of breath” becomes supercharged, and the foundation platform is raised. We can begin to run, train, or workout, with nasal breathing only, improving the oxygen uptake into our blood, which can increase our performance efficiency 10-20%. Nasal breathing during a run takes some practice, but the payoff is well worth it. Again, all these methods are to establish the foundation for the additional gains in performance.

A personal favorite, is “my morning routine” (noted below) and involves a “super-ventilation” breathing pattern that forcefully exercises the breathing muscles (diaphragm and many others), in a quick, fast breathing pattern, followed by a long breath hold on empty (no breath). You rapidly increase your oxygen saturation (SP02) of your blood to 100% with the quick, fast inhalations and exhalations and then exhale all your air outand hold on empty (no breath) for as long as you can (1-3 minutes), SP02 decreasing, as C02 increases, training your body to build tolerance to C02. Building this tolerance to C02 increases your anaerobic ability through C02 acid buffering. Practicing this exercise daily has many other added benefits. Here are some of the introductory breathing exercises that I have shared with others and want to share with you. Please remember to use at your own risk. (The Super Ventilation Breathing technique should only be practiced if you feel certain of your ability and is considered a more advanced technique)

Box Breathing (pre-Game)

Through Nose- Inhale 4 sec hold at top for 4 sec, exhale for 4 sec, hold on empty for 4 sec. Repeat 4 times

Expansion/Contraction- (volume increase)
Inhale through nose for 6 sec, sip additional air at top through mouth like using a straw, fill top of lungs.
Exhale for 6-8 sec through mouth slowly like blowing out birthday candles
Repeat 3 times (take 2-3 normal breaths following this)

Super-ventilation Breathing (My Morning Routine)
Really exercise your diaphragm muscles here and build Co2 tolerance!
Inhale through nose, exhale through mouth quickly/forcefully 30-40 times (less than 1 second, in 1 second out)
Fully exhale and hold on empty as long as you can! Goal -1 min
Inhale through nose full breath and hold for 10 sec.
Exhale. 2-3 normal breaths
Inhale through mouth, exhale through mouth quickly/forcefully30-40 times (less than 1 second, in 1 second out)
Fully exhale and hold on empty as long as you can! Goal 2-3 min
Inhale through nose full breath and hold for 10 sec.
Exhale. 2-3 normal breaths

Recovery Breathing (Post workout)

Laying down with feet up 90 deg flexion (if possible)
Through nose- Inhale 4 seconds, exhale 8 seconds
Allow 2-3 minutes if possible, to simply focus on this pattern.
For questions, additional training, or information please contact me.

LIFE-WEI
Performance Coach- Kevin Dewlen
– Proper breathing mechanics for increased efficiency/endurance
– Methods focused to strengthen respiratory muscles
-Functional training, health, nutrition, life skills
-XPT Performance Breathing Certified
LIFE-WEI 5 PILLARS: BREATH-FUEL-MOVE- SLEEP-LIVE
LIFE-WEI.COM
Kevin@life-wei.com