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Inhale, exhale—simple, right? Breathing is something we're all born with, and we breathe it all the time. But when it comes to movement, the art of inhaling and exhaling is a little more complicated than we might think.

Fitness coaches often remind you to "inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth", "take a deep breath and open the diaphragm" and so on. Is it right to do this? What exactly is a diaphragm?

Today, let's talk about the breathing that we carry out all the time but are easy to ignore.

Whether you're on a gantry, a treadmill, or a yoga mat, breathing may not be your first focus. Your mind is probably full of how to standardize your movements and your eyes are full of calorie counts.

But our bodies need oxygen to function properly, and smooth and efficient breathing is critical to delivering oxygen, helping us improve the efficiency of our movements and even calm our minds quickly.

Breathing correctly and effectively is not difficult, it just takes a little attention and a few practice sessions.

Yoga

Yoga is not a particularly strenuous exercise, but if you don't use effective breathing as "fuel", you probably haven't reached "Savasana" (Savasana), you are "out of power". Recommended breathing for yoga:

1. Isometric Breathing (Sama Vritti): Inhale and exhale at the same length. This is the most common and fundamental form of breathing in yoga, and it can help calm the nervous system, lower blood pressure, and relieve stress. To pass more rigorous types of yoga such as Ashtanga, vinyasa and power yoga,

2. Ujjayi Breathing (Ujjayi): Also known as "Victory Breathing". Ashtanga, flow yoga, and power yoga all require the participation of Ujayi breathing. Simple Ujayi breathing simply breathes through the nose, keeping the back of the throat slightly constricted. If it makes a slightly snoring sound, that's it.

Running

In addition to mastering the correct running posture, rhythm and strategy, breathing techniques are also extremely important. Research shows that wrong breathing can slow down your running speed and affect your running performance.

There is no uniform golden rule for running breathing, and breathing every two steps is the most comfortable. That is the rhythm of 2:2, two steps when exhaling, followed by two steps when inhaling, repeating this alternately. When we run, our diaphragm and surrounding organs are both affected by gravity, and synchronizing our breathing rhythm with the rhythm of our running prevents our organs from putting unnecessary stress on our diaphragm.

The Mouth-Nose Controversy: While there have been some studies comparing mouth-nose breathing during exercise, most have used smaller samples and the results have been somewhat inconclusive. Breathing through the mouth has less resistance, while breathing through the nose can increase the carbon dioxide saturation in the blood, which makes people calmer. Breathing through the nose can also help warm the air entering the lungs, which is suitable for cold weather.

High intensity exercise

Strenuous exercise is the most likely to make people out of breath. It is good to be able to breathe slowly, but should we pay attention to the way of breathing?

Breathing plays a vital role in stabilizing your core and controlling your posture, and during strenuous exercise, it's best to take a deep breath and tighten your core every time you carry a weight or receive a bump. Not only does this make our bodies stronger and more stable, it also helps protect the spine. And, during competition, deeper, calmer, more efficient breathing can also give athletes a psychological advantage by appearing less fatigued. The most effective breathing in high-intensity exercise comes from the diaphragm. Try abdominal breathing. When breathing, the chest cavity should expand from top to bottom, back to front, and to the sides.

Strength Training

Aerobic exercise isn't the only exercise that can benefit from breathing. Anyone who regularly strength trains should have heard their trainer remind them to "exhale hard" every time. When you exhale, the respiratory muscles contract to help support the load on the body and maintain stability in the lower back during weight training.

Using the bench press as an example, exhale slowly and continuously as you push up, then inhale as you top out or retract. Because, once you start the bench press, the weight of the barbell is always there, so you must always tighten your core to protect the spine. Some people like to use "tile breathing", take a breath, bear the weight, hold your breath, sink your dantian against your waist and abdomen, complete one movement and then exhale. However, don’t hold your breath for too long. Keeping your breath during exertion will increase the pressure in the chest cavity, which is good for your body’s stability. However, if you hold your breath for too long, it will hinder the return of blood to the heart and increase blood pressure.