Breathing is one of the essential functions of life. It seems like something that your body unconsciously does that you never have to think about.
Unfortunately, there are times when you do have to think about it. Every person who has suffered from asthma attacks will tell you that sometimes you have to think about breathing.
Even if you do not suffer from asthma, it is important to think about your breathing while you are working out. If you work out regularly, you know that your body needs the proper amount of food and water as well as the right kind of food to be able to function properly and effectively.
Your body also needs enough processed oxygen to function correctly. In order to become processed, the oxygen must pass through your lungs, to your blood stream which will then pass it on to your muscles. Breathing at the right times during exercise will affect the efficiency of this process.
While this has been known for a long time in the areas of weight training, tai chi, and yoga, the importance of breathing properly has been spreading to other areas of exercise programs. This has included the art of running and walking.
Throughout a normal day, a typical woman will take about 28,000 breaths. Most of these breaths are shallow and fairly ineffective in comparison to what they could be.
This number of breaths could be significantly reduced if she were to take fewer breaths that were deeper and much more effective. When you breathe deeply, the air uses all of your lungs and it is transferred into your body.
However, when you breathe shallowly, the lungs are not entirely used and the muscles in your neck tighten up. On occasion this can cause pain and stiffness.
As you become more aware of proper breathing techniques you will be able to relieve this pain and stiffness. When you breathe, you should use your diaphragm and you should be able to feel the air expand your rib cage and stomach.
There are many exercises that are good to warm up with before your daily exercise routine because they help you realize what good breathing is. Certain body positions definitely facilitate better breathing than other postures.
The postures that facilitate good breathing generally involve good posture. This is a good place to begin if you want to work on the effectiveness of your breathing.
Start by becoming conscious of your posture. If you are at desk, sit up straight and think about whether or not your diaphragm is open.
If you are running on a treadmill, make sure that you do not start slouching when you become tired. It is all too common to lose your good posture when you become tired during exercise.
When you maintain good posture at all times you will be able to maintain much better breathing much more of the time. Breathing exercises can also be quite effective for helping you cool down and relax after you have finished working out on the treadmill.
Start these breathing exercises when you are done running and you slow the treadmill to a walk. Continue with a few poses after you have completed your cool down walk on your treadmill.
These breathing exercises can give you added benefits than running on the treadmill would simply be able to give you. As you continue the breathing exercises, you will be able to become more conscious of your body and whether you can push if further or whether you should stop.
Being familiar with your body's limits will help increase your sense of well being. One of the ways you can practice becoming conscious of your breathing is to breathe through your nose when you first begin running.
Breathing through your nose takes conscious effort. At a certain point, you will not be able to take in enough air to meet your body's needs through your nose.
When this point comes, transfer your breathing from your nose to your mouth. You will probably notice the difference in how much deeper you breathe through your mouth after you have completed this nose exercise.
Be sure that you do not breathe through your nose too long as it can be quite dangerous to pass out on a treadmill. However, the way in which you breathe can greatly affect you ability to run further, faster, and harder.
It is important to breathe correctly. This is particularly the case when you exercise.
Author Resource:-
Terry Daniels is a personal trainer and has authored hundreds of articles relating to physical training and treadmills. He has been a health expert and physical trainer for over 15 years.
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