I started thinking about breathing the other day when A.J. mentioned she went for a run and felt like she could run forever simply because she was concentrating on breathing in and out of her nose. Is this possible? I researched it and, according to Military .com, "breathing properly can mean the difference between actually completing the exercise more efficienctly and losing more weight in the process." Sacre Bleu! Breathing properly not only allows you to improve your athletic performance (faster times, further distances), it actually helps you burn more fat. After all the searching for a miracle pill to help us burn more fat, it was with us all along! While running, you should inhale for three seconds, exhale fully for two. This allows oxygen to get to all of your muscles and clears your body of carbon dioxide. When I listen to a deep relaxation video on You Tube, the soothing voice instructs to "Inhale fully and exhale fully"- both are important. While lifting weights, you just remember to exhale on the exertion part. And while doing ab work, Tony Horton (of Power 90 X fame), tells us "Don't forget to breathe" because you can't get through ab exercises without it.
Yoga is "active meditation", so the breath is very important and you would think we would all be breathing like banchees in there, but such is not usually the case. When you are doing a difficult posture, the tendency is to hold your breath (like you do when enduring something painful), but this is actually counter productive, so we are constantly being told "It all comes back to the breath" and "Breathing is your best friend in Yoga". Breathing in and out in yoga helps us hold poses longer, get through challenging poses and balance better. Indeed, breathing is our best friend- our magic bullet to jump higher, run faster, go longer- so don't forget to invite your best friend to the party next time you work out.
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