According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the cardiorespiratory system influences athletic performance and recovery. Proper breathing is believed to improve maximal oxygen consumption, help relaxation and promote a sense of body awareness. Some sports scientists believe that breathing is an overlooked component of athletic training, and many sports-induced breathing problems can be cured through simple daily breathing exercises.
Physical Effects
The Optimal Breathing website believes that breathing correctly releases tension throughout the body, promoting blood flow and oxygen to working muscles. The National Strength and Conditioning Association reports that maximal oxygen consumption --- the body's ability to process and use oxygen --- plays a key role in determining an athlete's endurance. Optimal Breathing explains that correct breathing increases maximal oxygen consumption by more completely filling the lungs with each breath, increasing oxygen supply with each heart contraction and improving the ejection of carbon dioxide with each exhale.
Psychological Effects
Learning to breathe correctly can teach a sense of body awareness that transfers to many sport skills, Optimal Breathing explains. Further, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic system, which relaxes the body and allows athletes to remain calm during performance. A greater parasympathetic tone is associated with reduced anxiety and stress.
Performance Effects
Optimal Breathing recommends that every serious athlete make the development of kinesthetic awareness a priority. Correct breathing enhances this sense of awareness and can be beneficial for sports that require body control and coordination. Further, improved maximal oxygen uptake is associated with both enhanced endurance and aerobic power, the National Strength and Conditioning Association adds. Optimal Breathing believes that effective breathing can increase your oxygen supply.
Sport-Induced Breathing Problems
Many sports-related breathing problems can be corrected through focused breathing exercises, Optimal Breathing suggests. Sports tend to promote short, heavy breathing, leading to "hyper-inhalation." This can lead to forced breathing during sports activities, ultimately restricting blood flow and tensing muscles. Many athletes have reported sport-induced asthma, an extreme case of these symptoms.
Breathing Exercises
Optimal Breathing recommends simple daily breathing exercises to correct sport-induced asthma and other breathing issues. Sports psychologists Damon Burton and Thomas Raedeke advocate diaphragmatic breathing to enhance athletes' breathing ability. Perform diaphragmatic breathing by first breathing deeply through your nose into a concentrated spot just below the navel. Allow this area to fill like a balloon. Next, feel the rib cage expand as the middle portion of the lungs are filled. Finally, fill the upper third of the lungs by raising the chest and shoulders as you breathe. Take a long pause, then exhale completely through the mouth.
References
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle (eds.); 2008
- Optimal Breathing: Breathing and Personal Training
- Optimal Breathing: Sport and Exercise Induced Breathing Problems
- "Sport Psychology for Coaches"; Damon Burton and Thomas D. Raedeke; 2008
