Empower Fitness Tips: Proper Breathing as a Key Component of Exercise

Nowadays, many people are trying to find ways to improve their lifestyles to remain healthy. One common way that many people try is through exercise and other physical activities. It has been said that breathing deeply provides numerous health benefits for the body, which makes it one of the more popular exercises out there.

However, many people don’t know how to begin breathing deeply. At MPower Fitness Coaching, we teach our clients proper breathing techniques so they can get the most out of their workouts.

The first step is to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. While doing this, it’s essential to make sure that your stomach moves rather than your chest, which helps to allow more air to move through the body.

Once you have mastered this step, it’s time to start breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth while holding your breath for a couple of seconds before exhaling. This will help to strengthen the lungs by forcing them to take in more oxygen than they usually do. 

Finally, once you have mastered the nose-only breathing, nose and mouth breathing, and breath-holding exercises, it’s time to start working on incorporating them together.

Check out this empower fitness technique: Perform normal breaths until you feel comfortable with all of the steps. Then try combining breath holds within your normal breathing.

Each of these exercises can be performed for one minute at a time. However, if you feel comfortable with the movements, increase the time to five minutes at a time.

Deep breathing exercises have provided numerous benefits for everyone who performs them regularly. It is essential to understand the proper techniques and how they should be performed to gain these benefits. Once one has mastered the basic exercises, one can start incorporating them into their daily routine.

These are just some of the top benefits that deep breathing exercises provide. However, there are numerous other ways these techniques improve one’s life physically, emotionally, and mentally.

For instance, it is essential to increase oxygen intake for extra energy and a more focused mind, but it also helps to calm down the individual and decrease feelings of anger that may lead to outbursts.

In general, deep breathing is essential for everyone to remain healthy and feel their best every day.

Importance of taking breaks when doing strenuous exercise

The importance of taking breaks when doing strenuous exercise is well known. But it is also crucial to make sure you breathe correctly when exercising, too.

You may have heard about breathing during exercise before – but do you know why it is so important? While the body needs oxygen during physical exertion, it also produces carbon dioxide, which isn’t very helpful. The optimal breathing rate for exercise is usually between 25 and 30 breaths per minute (bpm).

Here’s the optimal breathing rate: while we often think of breathing in and out, we should be breathing in while contracting our diaphragm (lowest part of the lungs) and exhaling while relaxing it to let the air flow out.

When you breathe properly during exercise, it can enhance your performance by up to 12% since the amount of oxygen in the blood increases, thus improving strength and endurance.

This all makes perfect sense – but here’s something you might not have thought about. Controlled breathing is therefore vital to help remove the carbon dioxide from the blood.

There are some straightforward ways to do this, such as by exhaling when moving your arms or legs. It would be best if you also exhaled when lifting an object so that there’s no air in your lungs slowing down the movement of your joints.

You might not be sure how to make this happen – but it is elementary. You should breathe in while contracting your diaphragm (lowest part of the lungs) and exhale while relaxing it to let the air flow out – all without pausing during the intake or exhalation.

 5 Tips to Breathe Deeper

1. Before you begin exercising whether at our MPower Fitness Coaching HQ or your home, breathe in slowly for four or five seconds. Then breathe out even more slowly than you breathed in, for about six or seven seconds. Repeat a few times before beginning your exercise routine, and take a few deep breaths during breaks in between sets.
2. Put a hand on your stomach and feel it inflate when you breathe in, pushing against your fingers. Then gently push your stomach out as you breathe out—you’ll be amazed at how much air can come out of your mouth once you learn to let it flow more freely!
3. Before you go to bed, lie down on the floor and relax. Put your hands over your stomach, breathe in through your nose for four seconds, out through pursed lips for six seconds, then repeat two more times. Don’t worry about counting—try to match each breath’s length to what feels natural!
4. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Breathe only with your stomach for thirty seconds, and then switch to breathing only with your chest for another thirty seconds. When the time is up, continue at whichever stage feels more comfortable—most people feel a little light-headed after breathing in only through their stomachs for a while, but that’s okay!
5. Before you go to sleep at night, sit up in bed and breathe deeply. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach, then breathe so that each area rises only half as much as the other. Keep alternating between deep breathing with both hands and deep breathing with only one hand for a few minutes to ensure you’re relaxed before going to sleep.

And that’s it! By training yourself to take full breaths, no matter what the situation is, you’ll be able to keep your lungs healthy and strong—and have more fun exercising, too!

Now that we’ve established the relationship between proper breathing and exercising, let’s work on your actual fitness routine. Give us a call or send us a message so MPower Fitness Coaching can get you started on the road to better health.