Breathwork Strategies to Boost Competitive Fitness

If you do CrossFit or simply like to push yourself in the gym try out these breathing tips to radically redefine your cardio and respiratory capacity! Following these won’t only improve your endurance, but will boost your muscles’ ability to use oxygen as well.

Commit to Nasal Breathing for 1 Month

Yes. That means breathe in AND out your nose ONLY for one full month. This will increase your tolerance to carbon dioxide and help your nose adapt to allow more airflow. If you aren’t competing in the next few months there is no reason to avoid slowing down and fixing this weakness.

Gauge Your Intensity Output

Once you develop an awareness of your breath you will have an internal intensity gauge. In the middle of your workout you can simply pay attention to your breathing to know if you are pacing the workout correctly. How fast are you breathing? Are you using your nose or mouth? (Side note: your breathing cadence, rate, and method are far more valuable than any HR monitor)

Focus on Breathing Well to Move well

A focus on your breath generates a focus on your movement. For the vast majority of exercises breathe in during the eccentric phase and breath out during the concentric. Another way to think about this is to always exhale as you exert . This keeps your technique in check and ensures you aren’t holding your breath in the middle of a metcon.

Recover Between Intervals

In between intervals don’t simply hope to feel better before the next round. Take control of your breathing and force your recovery to happen. Begin by breathing more than you need to using your mouth. Gradually transition to nose in/ nose out while slowing down your exhales.

Quickly Begin Day to Day Recovery

The greatest determining factor for recovery after a workout is transitioning from a stressful (sympathetic) state to a relaxed (parasympathetic) state. Dropping your breathing and heart rate quickly helps you feel refreshed instead of beat down after a rough workout. One method is to lay down on the ground right after your session. Breathe low in your abdomen while following a 4 second inhale, 4 second exhale, and 4 second pause for 5:00.

Text me which one you are going to try during your next workout!

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