Breath And Exercise: The Motivation You’ve Been Looking For
Many Eastern cultures have long recognized the importance of breathing to cultivate a positive relationship between the body and the mind, one that results in a more tranquil state of being and a more resilient physiology. Yoga, qigong and Tai chi are such healthy practices because they combine deep breathing and movement to support a steady central nervous response.
And this can be important when you are trying to lose weight and burn fat.
Breathing and weight loss
There is a lot written about the cumulative benefits of aerobic and anaerobic exercise, although much of it is confusing and none of it seems to be definitive. What does seem to be clear is that you need both kinds of exercise to really be fit. Anaerobic exercise (like sprinting and weight-training) builds strength and muscle mass and occurs when your muscles are metabolizing their own stored sugars (or glycogen) into lactic acid. This conversion does not need much oxygen in order to take place.
Aerobic exercise (like brisk walking, raking leaves, riding the treadmill) increases the body’s supply of oxygen to the cells (and the removal of lactic acid) by making your heart pump faster and your lungs breathe harder. If activity is continued for longer than 15 minutes, the body begins to draw on its reserves of fat to meet the higher energy demands. While the mechanism is complicated, the outcome is the same: aerobic activity burns fat, so in order to lose fat (or convert fat to muscle) you need to have an ample supply of oxygen.
And that’s where breathing comes in. Whatever stage you are at in your exercise routine, oxygenating your cells through deep breathing will enhance your body’s ability to “burn” fat even hours after you’ve stopped moving.
So now that you know breathing well is so important, let’s look at ways to practice it!
Breathing—the essential exercise
How do you know which kind of breathing you do? Try this test: Place one hand on your chest and one hand on you abdomen. Take a normal breath looking down. If the hand on your chest rises first, you tend to breathe in your chest. If the hand on your abdomen rises first, you are more of a belly breather.
Whatever you do naturally, the following exercises will teach you how to breathe more fully. They don’t take a lot of time, but work best if you commit to practicing for a few minutes every day. Over time, you will find that you are breathing more deeply throughout the day, even when you exercise—the best of both worlds!
If you find that you can’t make time to practice deep breathing regularly, think about the reasons why then try to snatch little moments when you can take a deep resounding breath. Put sticky notes up around the house. I have a friend that put a “Just Breathe” sticker on her printer, so that every time she’s waiting for a document she remembers to inhale. Fully exhaling and inhaling at every stoplight is a good trick too—and helps counteract any road rage.
Basic deep breathing:
The most basic thing to remember is that your breath begins with a full exhalation (I know this seems counter-intuitive, but it’s true). You can’t inhale fully if you don’t empty your lungs completely. Also, try to breathe in through your nose. It acts as a filter against any impurities in the air.