Breathe
Better
t can
It’s something that we all do, bu
ffe
it be done better? Steve Hinchli
ing
looks at some alternative breath
tract
techniques that may help you ex
more ‘go’ from what you’ve got.
A
s cyclists, most of us would like
to get fitter so that we can ride
faster for longer and in greater
comfort. There are numerous
aspects to fitness but one of the
most important is aerobic performance;
our body’s ability to extract oxygen
from the atmosphere and get it to our
often screaming muscles. A rider with
good aerobic performance will be able
to operate at a high level of physical
output whilst maintaining a relatively
moderate metabolic rate (i.e. breathing
and heart rate), whilst someone with
very poor aerobic performance may have
an elevated metabolic rate even at quite
modest output levels.
Traditionally, cyclists and other
sportspeople have improved their aerobic
fitness through prolonged periods of
high activity whilst trying to maintain
a moderate metabolic rate, but in many
Eastern traditions fitness is achieved by
working at a moderate level and trying to
maintain a slow metabolic rate.
These alternative ‘breath training’ methods make use of our body’s
hardwired neural connections and
physiological processes to allow you
to function in a more efficient manner.
Best of all, you don’t need leave the
house or get out of your jim-jams to
learn them—bonus! Combine this with
your regular training regime and you’ll
be scampering up climbs like Nino Schurter, smiling all the way!
Before going any further, it’s vitally
important to understand that the result
of these breath exercises is ultimately to
breathe less than you normally would,
Medium Term –
Ujjayi (Ocean) Breath
What it is - This one comes from
the Yoga and Taoist traditions, and is
a bit trickier to master than the 2:31:2 rhythm; you’ll need a few weeks
or months to become really comfortable with it. The aim is to breathe only
through your nose, but instead of concentrating your inhalation at the nostrils
like normal, you want to maintain a sense
that you’re breathing from your throat.
When done correctly, your breath will
make a gentle rasping or hissing sound
in the throat which sounds a bit like a
distant ocean, or the wind through the
trees, or (somewhat less poetically) like
Darth Vader. In addition your nostrils
won’t constrict even when taking quite
deep, strong breaths.
It’s important to practice this one from
a comfortable sitting position (or even
lying down on your back) until you become familiar with it. Probably the best
way to get the hang of Ujjayi (which,
incidentally for you racers, means ‘victorious’ in Sanskrit) is to begin inhaling
through your mouth, and then halfway
through the breath close your mouth but
keep breathing in. You’ll know when
you’ve got it, because the sound is unmistakable. It’s quite normal when you
start working with this technique to feel
a little like you’re choking, or to get a
bit anxious; when this happens, just take
a break for 1-2 minutes and start up
again when you’re ready. Once you’ve
got it sorted, try to breathe like this as
much as possible (ultimately every in
and out breath of every day can be done
in this way).
Why it works - Compared to mouth
breathing, you’ll be getting less air to
your lungs per minute, which might
sound like a bad idea given what we’re
trying to achieve, but in actual fact this
is the same as altitude training, (the
higher the altitude, the lower the oxygen
content in air) but without having to go
on a trip to the mountains. You’ll have
slightly more CO2 in your bloodstream,
which acts as a vasodilator to open up
the alveoli in your lungs and increase
gas exchange into your bloodstream. By
restricting the amount of oxygen to the
lungs your body starts to adapt and use
the available oxygen more efficiently,
turning your clunky V8 Falcon lungs into
a turbo charged Impreza WRX. When
you’re on your bike and need to sprint
for the finish line or punch up a steep
not more. Additionally, when working
with breath control you’re also affecting
your nervous system, and if at any point
you feel dizzy, get a headache, start to
feel stressed, or your breathing becomes
forced, you need to stop what you’re
doing and return to normal breathing, at
least for a few minutes. These simple (but
not necessarily easy) breathing techniques
outlined below are just the first steps to
learning how to use your breath to control your body in ways you’ve probably
never imagined possible (the photo opposite shows a more complex technique,
for example). I hope you try them and
start to reap the rewards of conscious
breathing.
Instant Improvement –
The 2:3-1:2 Rhythm
What it is - This breath technique is
used in a variety of oriental martial arts
pinch, simply open your mouth to breath
and suddenly you’ve got masses of oxygen going straight into your muscles right
when you need it—beautiful!
Long Term –
Three Phase Breathing (Viloma)
What it is - This is another technique
from the Yoga tradition, designed to
increase your effective lung capacity. It
involves taking slow, deep inhalations in
three distinct stages, firstly to the lowest
part of the lungs, then to the middle
of the lungs, and finally to the upper
lobes of the lungs; this is followed by a
long, smooth exhalation. The first stage
involves dropping the diaphragm down
and allowing your stomach to puff out,
the second stage should see your side
ribs expand outwards, whilst the third
stage involves lifting your collarbones
and upper back and taking the breath
up towards your throat; there is a short
pause between each stage. A comfortable
rhythm for beginners might be inhale for
three seconds per phase, pause for one
second between each phase, and then
exhale for 10 seconds; this results in
around three breaths per minute. Over
time, you should be able to gradually
extend the rhythm to 5-2-5-2-5-2-15,
or something along those lines. Practice
this from a comfortable sitting position,
keep the in and out breaths completely
calm and smooth, and if at any stage
you feel anxious or your breath starts to
get shaky, stop the rhythm and rest for a
few minutes.
Why it works - Your lungs don’t
expand because air is forced into them,
but rather air is forced into them because
they expand. The lungs expand due to
muscular contraction of the diaphragm
(downwards) and the intercostals
muscles (outwards and upwards), but
unfortunately most of us have very poor
control of these muscles, and can only
contract some of them, and only some
of the way. This means that for many of
us we only use a small, central portion
of our potential total lung capacity. By
slowly learning to both use more of these
breathing muscles, and using them more
fully, you can increase the total amount
of air (and hence oxygen) you can inhale
in one breath, which means for any given
breath rate you’ll be getting more oxygen
to your muscles without needing to do
anything other than breath!
Don’t Just Sit There, Breathe!
Mr Alien Chest (AKA. Steve Hinchliffe)
demonstrates how controlling your breathing
allows you to manipulate your physiology in
some very interesting (and beneficial) ways!
You can use each of these breathing
techniques in isolation, but of course the
most powerful benefits will come when,
after a period of time, you can combine all
three; breathing deeply into the extremities of your lungs using Ujjayi nasal breath
in a 2:3-1:2 rhythm. This isn’t going to
happen quickly, and it’s vitally important
that you don’t stress your lungs or
nervous system by ‘pushing’ your breath
training, but with patience you’ll notice
improvements not only to your riding, but
also a general reduction in your metabolic
rate during day to day activities. You’ll
recover faster after exercise, sleep better,
and be calmer and less stressed, which
surely can’t be a bad thing. When all else
fails, just breathe!
mba 71
mba 70
(Ninjutsu, for example). You can start to
apply it from the moment you finish reading this article, and you’ll notice instant
and significant improvements to your
performance and recovery rate. It’s pretty
simple; breathe in for a count of two, out
for three, then in for one and out for two
(hence 2:3-1:2), and repeat ad infinitum.
Count as slowly as you can without feeling anxious or stressed; when you’re scaling a steep climb the count will be quite
short, and when you’re cruising a flat fire
road it’ll be much slower, but keep the
ratios of your breath the same in order to
get the most from this technique.
Why it works - Inhaling stimulates
your sympathetic nervous system (your
fight/flight response), whilst exhaling
stimulates your parasympathetic nervous
system (your rest-and-digest response, as
well as glycogen production). By keeping your exhalations longer than your
inhalations, the net result is activation
of the parasympathetic nervous system
which induces a reduced metabolic rate
and shorter recovery time when resting. Breathing this way also makes use
of a phenomenon called the Bohr Effect,
which allows oxygen to be released from
your blood into other tissues much more
easily, and hence provides a significant
boost to your available energy.