While most people pay little mind to the concept of proper breathing during exercise, conditioning your body to adhere to generally accepted standards of breathing can benefit you in a number of ways--easing the strain of difficult training sessions and reducing the risk of possible injury or side effects. There are three different exercise situations where you should be regulating your breath in different ways--during cardio, weightlifting, and maximal lifting efforts.
Breathing During Running
Correct breathing while running requires that you take full, complete breaths. Otherwise, your body will not have maximal oxygen reserves, compromising your potential speed and endurance. Proper breathing technique requires that you regulate your breath to your pacing in a 3:2 inhale/exhale ratio. This means your inhalations should take the same amount of time it takes to run three strides and your exhalations continue for the following two strides.
Breathing During Weight Training
During regular weight training, time your breathing to the pace of your training. Inhale during the eccentric (lowering) portion of a movement and exhale during the concentric (lifting) portion of the movement. For example, during a bench press you will breath in deeply as you lower the bar to your chest, and breath out as you lift it. This technique applies to weight training where you are performing more than three reps per set.
Breathing During Maximal Lifts
Breathing during weight training changes when you are attempting a maximal lift. If you are aiming to perform a heavy triple, double or single on any lift, breathe into your stomach deeply before the lift and hold your breath throughout, keeping as tense and stable as possible. This is the technique recommended by Dave Tate, a power lifter who has benched over 600 lbs. and squatted over 900 lbs. in competition.
Warnings
Be certain to properly pair your breathing technique with your form of exercise. Improper breathing during cardio carries little risk aside from failing to perform at your maximum potential. Improper breathing during weight training, however, carries the risk of headaches, high blood pressure, and even a possible hernia.
Benefits
As seen, proper breathing techniques confer a host of benefits: increased endurance, decreased chance of injury, and increased strength through torso stability. If you attempt to make proper deep-breathing techniques part of your day-to-day routine, they will become second nature before long, leaving your mind free to concentrate on your workout.
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