Everyday we take a breath and never really give it a second thought, it's our biggest thing to do in this life because without the breath, we'd be dead. Go weeks at a time a time, days without water but yet only last minutes without breathing, it is something we do take for granted.
When it comes to fitness, there are techniques to not make us perform better but recover better as well. In most mainstream training ideals, the breath is very little talked about and although you can move good weight, can't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. Even the most conditioned fighters in the world at times can't last 3x5 min rounds in a fight so, what more can you do to keep up the endurance while reserving your strength?
When I was in high school, breathing techniques didn't really exist or weren't really even taught and I can move some weight but I couldn't run if my life depended on it and was always slow and having little to no endurance. Between 18-20 years old, I was in the gym learning on my own different ways to handle weights and did some circuit training but I still had no real stamina and just felt drained a lot of time. My warm-up was just walking to the gym which was about 15-16 minutes but by the time I got there, I felt like crap.
After my injuries and learning the exercises from Combat Conditioning, I started picking up on how to really breathe when I moved and as I got better and my reps were getting higher and higher, my endurance shot through the roof and my strength had a lasting effect, not just temporarily. I had far better cardio and lasting strength than I ever did in my teens and I felt like I can take on the world.
I wanted to learn more on how deep breathing or specific techniques helped increase my endurance and kept up my conditioning. Learned what chest breathing did, intercostal, diaphramic, holding the breath and others so I took what I felt was best and ran with it. Some of the very best techniques I learned were from Garin Bader's CoreForce Energy System and not only gave me a fun way to perform better but be able to do things outside of my workouts I never had before. Learning how to breathe in certain situations and putting mental imagery and sound-making with it made things quite interesting. I moved smoother, protected me from injuries, handle awkward movements and more.
When I was in Jiu Jitsu, I learned the hard way that the breath was more important than using my strength. After many years of training, I was good at breathing but focused more on how to use my strength and it bit me in the ass. I was winded moments after getting on the mat at first and I felt that something had to be done. I started letting my body relax a bit more and ore instead of using tension cause in some methods that was what was taught. Once I relaxed and used some of the CFE Techniques, 5 min rounds didn't feel as difficult, still got my ass kicked but the guys started to see what kind of strength I really possessed and had trouble putting me in some holds and even escaped a choke hold that was really clamped on.
I did some research on the Breath Of Fire and Diaphragmatic Breathing that the Gracies used to keep themselves in awesome shape throughout a fight and practicing this techniques has opened another door in how I can perform better. It isn't an easy technique to learn but once I got used to it, it made my workouts better. I then started learning techniques from Matt Furey on how to relax even more to move faster without using so much tension if any. I used these techniques recently with the Matt Furey Exercise Bible and even with doubling the squats, I finished the deck in 35 minutes which was the fastest I have ever done with those specific exercises and didn't feel winded or tense.
There are some techniques that just don't work for some people and I have found even after one practice that certain aspects of chest breathing or intercostal breathing just freaking suck. I have found that the better you can relax, the better you can perform in most cases, yes you need tension in some forms of exercise like olympic weightlifting or powerlifting, things of that nature but in performing or moving throughout everyday life, the less you have unnecessary tension, the better you will be.
To learn more on the phenomenal methods of breathing, check out these courses......
Upgrade Your Breath
CoreForce Energy
Introduction to Qigong Exercise for Beginners with Lee Holden
7 Minutes of Magic: Recharge Your Body Each Day with Qi Gong
