Breathwork for High Performance

Unless you’re regularly swimming laps, you might not pay much attention to your breath. And yet, this physiological process is involved in practically everything you do, whether you’re sitting at your desk, running through your neighborhood, or lifting heavily loaded barbells.

“The overall role of respiration is to provide oxygenated blood throughout your body, which is needed for every chemical reaction — including the reactions we need for exercise,” says Rachelle Reed, MS, PhD, ACSM-EP, an exercise physiologist. “We oftentimes need the presence of oxygen to create fuel to move the skeletal muscles or to replenish the oxygen right after.” During aerobic exercise, for instance, your body uses oxygen to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the main energy source for cells.

When your body is at rest, you have a slower respiratory rate of about 12 to 15 breath cycles per minute. Once you start exercising, that respiratory rate jumps up to about 40 breath cycles per minute, depending on the intensity of your workout and your personal fitness level, says Reed. “The need for getting oxygen to the tissues increases as the intensity of exercise increases,” she notes.

As your breathing rate and heart rate pick up, you’ll reach your first ventilatory threshold — the point at which it’s difficult to carry on a conversation while exercising. “That’s the point where it becomes harder for the person to maintain consistency with breathing, where the inhales are going to start to be longer than the exhales,” says Reed. “You’re starting to reach a point of fatigue that's not a sustainable pace.”

With continuous exercise, your respiratory and cardiovascular systems become more efficient, so you’re able to do the same level of work at a lower ventilation rate, says Reed. “You're so much more efficient at getting oxygen where it's needed and also at getting rid of the carbon dioxide, the waste product from all those chemical reactions,” she adds. You’ll also be able to work at greater intensities before reaching your ventilatory threshold. An untrained person might feel like it’s challenging to talk while on a long incline walk, while a more experienced individual may need to jog up that hill in order to feel a bit out of breath.

However, how you breathe — not just the fitness of your cardiorespiratory system — can influence your performance, too. Here, Reed shares tips for better breathing while exercising, no matter your choice of workout.