If breathing is not normalized, no other movement pattern can be.
— Karel Lewit
Tips for breathing during training
- Breathe calmly and evenly
- Breathe in and out through your nose
- Direct the breath into the abdomen
- Start training with a breathing exercise
- Draw attention to your breath, breathe consciously
- Move with the breath
- If your breathing becomes shallow, restless or compressed, reduce the intensity!
Breathing exercises
Breathe and hold
- inhale through nose for 4 seconds
- hold breath for 2 to 4 seconds
- 4 seconds through the nose exhale
- Pause for 2 to 4 seconds hold
Crocodile-breathing
The crocodile breathing technique is so named because you have to get into a position that resembles a crocodile! The main idea is to teach our body to use our diaphragm muscles more and relax the shoulders while we breathe. This helps to increase your breathing capacity and release muscle tension - which is especially useful before a workout.
- Lie on your stomach so that your ribs touch the floor.
- Place one fist on top of the other and rest your forehead on the top fist.
- Relax your shoulders and release them towards the floor.
- Try not to inhale into the upper part of your chest to prevent your body from lifting off the floor due to the expansion of your ribs.
- Instead, inhale through your nose into your abdomen to stretch your lower torso on all sides. Your abdomen, lower back and side abdominal muscles should expand.
- Hold your breath for one to two seconds.
- Exhale through your nose and try not to tense your body.
- Once you have understood the movement, continue this exercise for a few minutes.
- There are no specific requirements for the duration of breaths for this exercise, but try to match your normal flow with equal numbers of inhales and exhales.