Not Hitting Your Performance Goals? Mouth Breathing Might Be the Roadblock

Wed Jan 02 2019 How frustrating is it when you have a good coach, push yourself in your training, and dial in your recovery, only to continually fall short of your aims on game day? When this happens, its easy to question what you couldve done better, how much harder you couldve worked, or whether you simply choked under pressure. These are legitimate questions, but the answers we typically come up with can be way off. I just needed more sets, reps, or weight. Or, the self-defeating judgementsI guess Im just mentally weak. Rather than needing to do more, theres actually a fair chance you need to do less of somethingless chronic stress, less red-lining and, perhaps most significantly, less mouth breathing during exercise. Thats right. The real reason for you coming up short again might be as simple as the fact that youre locked in a dysfunctional breathing pattern. You probably dont even know it! Think About Breathing One possible cause is that breathing is autonomouswe do it subconsciously because its the most crucial factor in our survival as human beings. But this also has a pitfall, in that because it happens automatically, we dont think about it. We can develop faulty breathing patterns that compromise our day-to-day state, our physical and cognitive performance, and our recovery, without even realizing it, said Patrick McKeown, XPT Advisor, Buteyko breathing expert, and author of The Oxygen Advantage . Sometimes, a more progressive coach will ask you to focus on breath and teach you how to breathe during a workout. This can help you stabilize your torso in power/strength exercises like deadlifts and squats, maintain a solid tempo in rhythmical movements like kettlebell swings, and boost your endurance in aerobic activities such as cycling, rowing, and running. Best case scenario, you transfer this newfound breath awareness to the other 23 hours in your day. But many people dontthey go right back to letting breathing just happen outside the gym. This means that when youre not training, youre likely lapsing into breathing through your mouth. We can also consider this to be stress breathing, as taking in big gulps of air signals to your autonomic nervous system that it needs to click into and stay in a mode of heightened vigilance. This, in turn, can create excess tension in your soft tissues (that aching neck and upper back youd love somebody to rub), which is exacerbated when were asking other muscles to take over the role of respiratory mechanics from the diaphragm we cut out of the equation when we breathe through our mouths. The higher frequency of mouth breathing sends additional stress signals to the brain. No wonder you feel cooked at the end of a long day and find it hard to truly relax! If you dont have a coach who emphasizes breath control and awareness, the bad habits you form during day-to-day activities are likely exaggerated when youre pushing yourself to the max physically, McKeown said. If so, youre gulping in more oxygen than your body can possibly process, not blowing off sufficient carbon dioxide, and asking those secondary respiratory muscles to contract faster and harder for longer. This is one of the primary reasons people fall apart on a long run or ride. We often attribute lacking the energy to continue to bonkinga depletion of glucose. And yet in reality, many such incidents are either caused by or attributed to dysfunctional mouth breathing during exercise. If your muscles arent getting sufficient oxygen and cycling out enough CO2, you will not have enough energy. Lets not forget that breath is the other way that we fuel performance at the cellular level. Patrick McKeowns Tips for Replacing Mouth Breathing with Nasal Breaths With all this said, what are you supposed to do about it? What is the correct way to breathe when exercising? While you might be tempted to go right for what you think matters mosttraining and competitionyoud be better off beginning with how you breathe when just going through everyday life. Here are five steps McKeown recommends to retool your breathing pattern: While it might sound simple, keeping your lips together when youre not talking, drinking, or laughing can make a big difference. While it might sound simple, keeping your lips together when youre not talking, drinking, or laughing can make a big difference. Next, try to hold your tongue against the roof of your mouth so youre not blocking the airway. Next, try to hold your tongue against the roof of your mouth so youre not blocking the airway. Try to take slow, shallow nasal inhales and exhales from your diaphragm that almost seem nonchalant. Try to take slow, shallow nasal inhales and exhales from your diaphragm that almost seem nonchalant. Then, reduce how often you breathe. Then, reduce how often you breathe. Finally, always keep your breathing under control, particularly when you start to feel panicked or stressed out. As your breath is always with you and available, it gives you a way to modulate your response to any circumstance. All it takes to calm down is a few nasal inhales and exhales. Finally, always keep your breathing under control, particularly when you start to feel panicked or stressed out. As your breath is always with you and available, it gives you a way to modulate your response to any circumstance. All it takes to calm down is a few nasal inhales and exhales. In the next installment of this series, well move on to exploring the significance of how you breathe at night, and give you some tips to enhance your sleep quality, reduce evening stress, and make you feel more fully rested upon waking. Until then, breathe easy (and through your nose!).