The importance of proper and appropriate breathing

To breathe or not to breathe... it really isn't a question.

As I've said innumerable times to my Gyrotonic clients over the last 10 years, in my opinion (which is biased of course) no exercise system integrates breathing with motion as completely as Gyrotonic. However, does that mean that breathing should essentially be ignored in weight training? Of course not, especially if a Gyrotonic instructor, namely myself, is training in another form of exercise.
The key elements of integrating breath into motion when doing Gyrotonic can and should be melded into any other training. Here is a quick description of those key elements.
- The intensity and duration of the breath must match the intensity and duration of the exercise.
For example, if you're doing a boxing exercise like hitting the heavy bag, using the yogic ujai pranayama breath would be very inappropriate. Pranayama breath is a slow, extended exhale while your motion is a quick, explosive action. There would be a complete disconnect between what you're doing and how you're breathing. In this example, this disconnect could actually lead to injury to you, for reasons I'll discuss below.
- One motion, one breath.
-With a few exceptions, yoga classes & cardio vascular exercise, the most direct way to connect your breathing to your motion is to breathe once per repetition of the activity. For example, boxers use this concept when practicing jabs. A short quick breath with each jab. (Ask sean the rationale behind this)
Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth
While there is some possibility for variance with the exhale, inhaling through the nose is a no brainer. Your lungs are delicate organs and cold dry air can be damaging to them. When you inhale through your nose, the sinuses warm and moisten the air before the air reaches the delicate alveoli in the lungs.
With regards to exhaling, if you're doing an activity that the “one motion, one breath” concept doesn't fit, like cycling, exhaling through the mouth on every breath isn't a necessary focus. However there are physiological factors for exhaling through the mouth during weight training. Most of us know that the primary muscle for inhalation is the diaphragm. There is also a corresponding primary muscle for exhalation, the transverse abdominus. Whenever someone tells you to “suck in your gut”, this is the muscle you're primarily using. The transverse abdominus is also the primary muscle for stabilizing your lumbar spine. As it draws inward, it decreases the amount of space in your abdominal cavity, increasing the interabdominal pressure, which creates more internal stability. This is why exhaling through the mouth can be a benefit. If you're purposely focusing on both the inhale and the exhale while you're lifting weights, you're giving increased focus to purposefully using the transverse abdominus in your motion, which is going to increase the stability of your lumbar spine, decreasing the possibility of low back injury. This is why using pranayama breath while punching a heavy bag can be injurious. Without the purposeful use of the transverse abdominus during a powerful activity, you're trying to generate power without stabilizing your lumbar spine.
So, let's put this all together. When doing any weight training, including body weight training and core strengthening exercises (ABS!), exhale as you perform the effortful portion of the motion and inhale as you return to your resting position. For example, in a dumbbell overhead press, exhale as you push the dumbbells overhead and inhale as you lower them back down to shoulder height. Exhale through the mouth as you press, to increase usage of the transverse abdominus and inhale through your nose on lowering, to warm and moisten the air.
As I discussed in my post about habituation, if you continually focus on proper breathing technique while you're at the gym, your body will learn proper habits and your breathing throughout the day will improve in all ways. Proper breathing is of immeasurable benefit to your health, both physically and mentally for reasons too numerous to list here. But there is a reason yogis doing strictly breathing exercises. Do a small part for yourself. Focus on breath and feel the long term benefits increase daily.