BREATHE - Matt Wickham

Each and every one of my members would definitely have heard me shout out "Breathe" during our main set of the class. It is a vital part of our everyday lives, however it can be a limiting factor when it comes to our training - as you would all have noticed! It is not difficult to generate a breath but it can be difficult to control our breathing especially when undergoing a high intensity session.

When we take part in exercise our body goes through a physiological adaption whereby the blood vessels vasodilate (expand) to allow for greater blood flow to be directed to the muscles under work. During this time our body also goes through a phenomenon called the "Metaboreflex". In a low to moderate activity, for example a Tempo Session, the heart supplies a sufficient amount of blood flow to the legs to address the energy and oxygen demands.  The heart also supplies small amount of blood to the respiratory muscles, as they too have energy and oxygen demands. As the energy and oxygen demands start to increase in the legs it stimulates the nervous system which sends a message to the brain requesting more blood flow. The brain in turn then sends a reply in the form of blood vessel vasodilation to meet these needs of the legs and because the effort is still low to moderate (tempo session) no extra strain is put on the respiratory muscles or the heart rate.
When we start undergoing a high intensity session, for example where the effort is above 80%, the respiratory muscles start to fatigue. When the respiratory muscles fatigue they give off metabolites which activates the nervous system and sends a message to the brain also asking for increased blood flow to meet the demands of the respiratory muscles. Now with the heart, legs and respiratory muscles experiencing strenuous loads the brain has to make a decision as to how it will need to address the issue. It does this by constricting the blood flow to the muscles of the legs (creating sense of fatigue) and redirecting the blood flow back to the respiratory muscles so that we can continue to breath - the body's physiological safeguard to prevent ourselves from collapsing due to overexertion.

Through sessions at Cadence we try to encourage and coach inspiratory muscle training (IMT), which is your breathing techniques used when doing a session. IMT teaches you to maintain deeper slower breathing patterns which means you are controlling the rate at which your respiratory muscles fatigue by avoiding fast, short shallow breathes which lead to over stimulation of your respiratory muscles causing the Metaboreflex.

Tips on how to improve your breathing technique:

1.        Slow down your breathing - Allow for a complete exhale before taking your next full breathe

2.        Lengthen your torso - Allow for greater area for which your lungs can expand during inspiration

3.        Relax! - Don't tense your upper body and abs as this restricts the movement of the diaphragm and in turn increases the rate of fatigue to the respiratory muscles

4.        Find a rhythm - Finding a rhythm will assist in keeping that slower rate of breathing

5.        Breathe through your belly - by relaxing your tummy you allow your diaphragm to expand and contract to its full length

Benefits of this style of breathing include:

·         Encourages blood flow to the working muscles in the legs and therefore decreases the onset of muscular fatigue

·         Increases core stability through breathe and thus reduces stressors to the back

·         It can increase the sense of calmness as you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system with the movement of the diaphragm

·         Lowers blood pressure