Why Learn How to Breathe Correctly

Learning to breathe correctly is a basic need we all have. This post will give you 5 easy steps to learning how to breathe correctly. Use the table of contents to jump to any section of the article that interests you.

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Why Focus on Breathing

So you are wanting to make a change in your fitness and are looking into the top fitness trends to start. You are looking at what foods to eat, how long you need to sleep, and other aspects of health. But have you given thought to your breathing? Breathing is an unconscious activity we perform that can have the greatest impact on your health. Let’s teach you how to breathe correctly in 5 easy steps.

“The average person breathes approximately 20,000 times a day.”

calm.com

Breathing is not just about getting air into and out of our lungs. Proper breathing can improve your immune system, as well as provide input into the nervous system to change our moods. Proper breathing is a habit to be developed. Once developed, breathing properly will happen naturally throughout your day.

Many exercises performed in the gym are made more beneficial by linking the activity to the breathing. Yoga for example relies heavily on breathing for proper physiological effects. Performing an exercise like a bench press relies on exhalation on the way down in order to engage the core for a stronger press up. Let’s look at how easy it is to learn how to breathe correctly with the following 5 tips.

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Learn How to Breathe Correctly with These 5 Tips

Tip 1: Use the Nose

The nose is filled with hairs and mucus that serves as a way to filter the air we breathe. In addition to the filtration effect, the internal surface of the nose has ridges called conchae that help deflect the air as it enters the nose. This allows a humidifying and warming effect of the air prior to it going to the lungs. 

Breathing in dry air can have negative effects on our body such as allowing bacteria to grow in our mouth and throat, promoting bad breath, and drying out our air passageways. This is more common with mouth breathing. So when focusing on improving your breathing technique, use the nose. 

Tip 2: Use the Diaphragm

Breathing with your diaphragm is usually called ‘belly breathing’. If you ever took singing or voice lessons, your teacher probably encouraged you to belly breathe. Breathing with the diaphragm allows you to take a deeper breath into your lungs while using less energy to breathe.

Breathing takes place either from your diaphragm or through other muscles referred to as accessory muscles. The accessory muscles are found in your neck and between your ribs. Breathing via the accessory muscles takes more energy because you are lifting your ribcage up against gravity each time you breathe in. I am sure you have seen people who breathe in by lifting their shoulders. 

When breathing with the diaphragm, the diaphragm, which is a muscle, pulls down with gravity drawing air into the lungs while pushing out the abdomen. This technique causes the lungs to fully stretch, drawing the maximum amount of air while working with gravity. 

Tip 3: Have an Active Lifestyle

Exercise is a great way to exercise our lungs along with all the other benefits to our heart and skeletal muscles. Increasing the amount of aerobic exercise weekly allows for the proper exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs. Maybe you want to start walking, become more flexible, maybe hit the track with a run, or even get into other not so common activities like using Indian Clubs. 

Swimming or riding a bike are also great ways to get some exercise into your day. Whatever activity you choose, be sure to start slowly and listen to your body. 

Learning Proper Breathing

When you are beginning to learn proper breathing, it is important to start lying down. Practice the following steps to learn and rehearse proper diaphragmatic breathing. 

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Repeat this sequence 6-10 times twice a day to master the art of proper breathing. 

Progressing the Program

Once you have mastered the ability to breathe through your abdomen while lying down, it is important to learn how to breathe correctly in sitting and standing. This is because we do not just breathe lying down. 

Take a sitting position in a chair with a good upright posture. Position the hands as before, one on the abdomen and one on the chest. Focus on breathing in over 4-5 seconds. Be sure to only allow your hand on the abdomen to move outward. When you exhale, the lower hand should move inward. Once this is mastered, progress to standing.

Examples of How to Breathe Correctly While Exercising

A proper exhale allows for a bracing or contraction of the abdominal muscles called core activation. This core activation protects your spine when lifting weights or doing other strenuous activities. 

How to Breathe Properly During a Deadlift

Performing a deadlift or lifting a weight from the ground is a common and very important skill to have in the gym. This is because we lift items from the ground throughout the day as needed at home or work. Achieving proper core activation allows for safe performance of these activities. 

When lifting a weight from the floor, proper lifting skill and breathing is required. The proper breathing sequence on a deadlift is to exhale on the way down, engaging the core musculature and inhaling on the way up. This sequence should be followed throughout the session. 

How to Breathe Correctly while Swimming

The art of swimming relies heavily on the timing of your breathing and maximizing the air taken in with each breath. Common breathing techniques for swimming is an exhale while the face is under the water when performing the butterfly, breast, side, or freestyle stroke. The inhale occurs when the body rolls or lifts above the water with a strong inhale from the diaphragm. 

How to Breathe Correctly While Running or Walking

A common breathing strategy when performing land aerobic exercise is to inhale from the diaphragm over a count of 4-6 steps and then exhale over 4-6 steps. This encourages proper ventilation and expiration during your exercise session. 

Conclusion

Learning how to breathe correctly is a critical component to life. We can’t live without getting enough oxygen into our lungs while getting rid of our carbon dioxide. By focusing on the 5 steps laid out in this article, you can improve your ability to breathe correctly with all of your daily activities. Be sure to emphasize breathing whenever you are needing to brace your abdomen or trigger a core activation. This will protect your spine and other joints from improper stress.