Learning How to Breathe.

Yoga gave me my breath back.  As a runner and a gym rat, I decided to become a certified personal trainer in order to reach higher fitness goals.  However, I learned as much from doing yoga, as I did from the personal training certification.  I was always hesitant to try yoga. Like a lot of men, I didn’t think it offered enough of a ‘workout.’  When I discovered Yoga4men, I gave yoga a second look, mainly because the classes took into account the male body.  After a few men’s yoga classes, I realized yoga taught focus and many basics that enhanced all of my athletic activities and day-to-day health.  The first thing I learned was how to breathe again.

We Have a Tendency to Breathe from our Chests - Postural Issues

Even if you are not running or working out, being hunched over a desk, leaning your head forward to read/text, and having any rounded-shoulder postural issues can result in overuse of the secondary muscles (sternocleidomastoid, levator scapulae and upper trapezius). The muscles, instead of your diaphragm, then become primary to your breathing. And your breathing doesn’t utilize your belly.  A vicious cycle of short shallow breathing begins.  Lack of normal breathing can result in excessive tension. It also can create stress and anxiety leading to more headaches, dizziness and lightheadedness.  The tension is from the lack of mobility in the joints of your rib cage and the spine - yes, there are joints connecting you ribs and vertebrae.  These joints flex when we breathe properly.  With short shallow breathing, these joints become stiff, making it even more difficult to take a full breath and adding additional tension to the body. As your secondary muscles become primary and your ribs tighten, shallow “chest breathing” then becomes habitual.

Beware of Chest Breathing When you Exercise

I didn’t even realize I needed to learn how to breathe.  Yes, when I lifted weights, I paid very close attention to my breath.  I exhaled and inhaled, up and down.  But, my breath was still shallow - chest breathing. Even after studying, I still had a tendency to hold my breath, tighten my chest and push harder thinking it would give me that extra edge. I didn’t realize how much I was actually hindering my performance and health. Additionally, I run daily - some days really fast, and there are days of intervals.  My focus was changing the heart rate frequently because of the many benefits to cardiovascular and respiratory health.  This helps lower your resting heart rate and your recovery rate - efficient use of oxygen and lowered stress. Yet, when I ran, like lifting, I had a tendency to breathe shallow - very short quick breaths.  This was completely contrary to regulating and lowering the heart rate. This artificially raised my heart rate and reduced my oxygen intake.  Again, this was completely counter-productive to what I was trying to achieve for my health and performance.  

It Causes More Anxiety and Fatigue

This excessive breathing can also result in altered carbon dioxide and oxygen content.  You aren’t inhaling good air and exhaling all the bad air.  This alteration then can lead to increases in your resting heart rate and feelings of anxiety; again circular - short breaths lead to anxiety, anxiety leads to short breath.  Not expelling all the metabolic waste (not a nice term), will lead to quicker fatigue and stiff muscles.  Remember our bodies are an engine -they need fuel in the form of food and air work efficiently. Without the proper airflow, your body isn’t equipped to perform.

Learning To Take A Full Breath

Yoga gave me my breath.  As I inhaled, my lungs expanded to my belly.  As I exhaled, my belly button retracted to my spine. I learned how to take full breaths and feel the body expand.  I found my air flow ease.  I learned that every new pose presented a new challenge in requiring me to find my breath - find space in my body for the air flow. This helped me in finding a rhythm when I ran and worked out.  In running, I now focus on a solid full belly 2:1 time ratio (think 4 seconds in, 2 seconds out) or even a 1:2 time ratio (a bit more relaxing, and a bit more difficult).  These patterns cause better oxygen flow and stronger performance.  The more conscious and aware of my breath during workouts, the more my daily breath comes from the belly rather than the chest.  New healthy habits began, with little effort.

Christopher Palumbo, CPT 

I am a certified personal trainer and recently a yoga fanatic. I spent years battling self esteem, weight issues and bad habits.  Over the last decade, I’ve dedicated myself to eating right, finding fun ways to be active and sharing with others.  As a veteran online marketer, I also have an online marketing consulting practice focused toward online retailers, health and the fitness industry.