FitSugar

Check Your Breath

FitSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:40:16 -0700

Breathing is fundamental to every form of exercise I can think of; the first concept I teach new Pilates clients is how to breathe. I might know this intellectually, but Hannah my swim coach at Equinox decided my freestyle breathing needed an overhaul.

To prove her point, she even took a video of my form. Since my swim lesson last week, I have been paying extra attention to my breathing in all forms of exercise, from yoga to running, as well as when I am in the pool and I urge you to check your own breath. Are you unconsciously holding it at any point when you're working out? Are you raising your shoulders to inhale? When you inhale are you only filling the top portion of your lungs? This is a great little tool and if you're feeling bored with your workout, it gives you something productive to work with rather than watching the clock.

Breathe For Your Skin

FitSugar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:00:00 -0800

I am firm believer in deep breathing. It is the cheapest way to relax when you're stressed out. Unfortunately, stress can bring on shallow breaths. These little gulps of air decrease the amount of oxygen in the blood. Ann Pardo, a director at Canyon Ranch spa, told Fitness magazine that shallow breathing can even affect the skin, making it appear "dull and sallow." Don't let the end-of-year stress wind you up and negatively impact your skin tone. Take the time to breathe deeply when you feel the tension coming on. Inhale slowly for five counts and exhale in the same manner. You won't only look better, but you will feel better, too.

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Pilates Tip: Avoid the Head Rush

FitSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

When I am gardening and move from a deep squat to standing, I get a little lightheaded. It is not really disconcerting, but when it happens when I'm doing Pilates, well that is a different story. Exercises where you move from horizontal to vertical quickly can create a sudden lowering of blood pressure, which can make you dizzy. The most simple way to avoid the head rush is to move more slowly. And moving more slowly will emphasize the element of control central to the Pilates philosophy. This will also increase the difficulty of the move. Think of that as a perk brought to you by your desire to avoid a head rush.

The expert at About.com: Pilates also thinks that increasing the "scoop" of the deep abs on the inhale can help keep the blood pressure from dipping too low. Keeping the low and deep abs engaged while you breathe in means you need to focus on breathing into the sides and backs of your ribs - an element of Pilates we can all work on.

Try these two fixes and see if they keep getting dizzy at bay.

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Fit Tip: Don't Hold Your Breath

FitSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:30:00 -0700

The next time you're lifting at the gym, take a minute to focus on your breathing or lack thereof. Unknowingly many of us, myself included, have the tendency to hold our breath and tense up during the hard part of an exercise. It's time to break the habit.

It may sound strange to remind you to breathe, but try to avoid holding our breath during the strenuous part of a lift. The problem is that breathing improperly while lifting can increase blood pressure potentially leading to light headedness, dizziness, nausea, hernia, heart attack or even stroke. Holding one's breath can be especially problematic for someone who is pregnant or for someone with hypertension. To avoid this, inhale with eccentric (the easy part) and exhale with each concentric phase (the hard part - when the muscle you are working is shortening) of a repetition.

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Learn to Love: Breathing Both Ways

FitSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Have I mentioned lately that I love swimming and that it feels like I am dancing a duet with the water? Another thing to love when it comes to swimming is breathing to both sides – it is really helpful if you are swimming for exercise. I know trying to breathe on the side you aren't used to feels extremely awkward and uncomfortable, but in the long run it is well worth conquering the skill of bilateral breathing.

The benefits of breathing to both sides might just convince you to try it, and they are:

Balancing out your stroke, so you are not working out lopsided.
Building symmetrical musculature on your back and arms (asymmetrical strength can lead to over use injuries).
Easing neck pain from always rotating to just one side.
If you swim in open water (as you would in a triathlon), you will be able to check for landmarks, avoid splashes from other swimmers as well as waves.

So next time you are swimming laps, practice breathing to the other side - once you are in the pool you will know immediately which side that is.

To see a few drills you can use to practice your bilateral breathing, read more.

Here are a few approaches to the learning process:

Breathe to your right side for one length of pool and to your left as you swim back. This way you can still breathe in all the oxygen you need but still develop a symmetrical stroke.
Breathe to your weaker side on warm-ups and cool-downs.
Experiment with three breaths to the left, then three to the right and you will have it down.
When you feel comfortable try breathing every five strokes to work on stroke and breathing efficiency.

Fit's Tip: I remember when I was learning this skill, it felt almost like I was drowning. Pay attention to how it feels to breathe on your usual side and try to re-create that feeling on the other side. Most days I cannot remember which one side I used to breathe on.

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Breathing and Exercise

FitSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:30:00 -0700

You breathe in. You breathe out. You rarely think about it, except when it comes to exercising. You know breathing is important; it supports your effort and can help make you more efficient. Here are a few simple tips to help you with the simple act of breathing, broken down by exercise type.

Cardio: Avoid shallow breaths since they are often an indicator that you are working too hard. Shallow breathing also indicates that you haven't established a suitable breath pattern for your activity. You want to take stronger and deeper breaths when doing cardio, so take the time to find your rhythm.
Strength training: Generally you want to breathe out on the difficult part of the lift or move to help stabilize your body during exertion. So you exhale when you are lifting a hand weight to your shoulder during a bicep curl. This helps you engage your core to help prevent your from swaying into your heels, which is cheating and could set you up for a lower back injury. In Pilates classes, we often start exercises with the phrase, "Inhale to prepare" to remind people to breathe in before they "work."
Stretching: Slow steady breathing is preferable when stretching and will help you relax. Try to focus on breathing from your diaphragm, which will make your belly move out on the inhale and not your chest and shoulders.

Ready. Set. Breathe.

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Breathing and Running

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:00:00 -0800

When it comes to breathing while running, you need to focus on the rhythm. Coach Jenny over at Runner's World says you can even think of it as a dance between the two elements if you'd like.

You should match your breathing to your steps. For an easy-paced run, inhale for three or four steps then exhale for the same amount. Count the steps in your head while you adjust to breathing on tempo. If you are running more intensely, your breathing tempo will increase to support your increased energy output. So the rhythm is more like a breath in for one to two steps and out for one to two steps. If you can't match your steps to breathing tempo then you are trying to run too fast, slow down, and get back into your rhythm.

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Problems Breathing While Exercising?

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:45:00 -0700

If you've been having troubles breathing while exercising, but don't have asthma, it's not all in your head.

Turns out that exercise induced bronchospasm, or EIB, is a breathing problem that happens when you exercise or play sports. In fact, many people with no history of asthma suffer from the problem too. So whether you're an elite athlete or a weekend warrior, the symptoms of EIB include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing or fatigue. If you have any of these symptoms, it's wise to see your doctor to discuss treatment options.

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Stretching Tips

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Stretching is the most overlooked part of a fitness plan. Since I love stretching and since I don't really understand why people avoid flexibility training, I have decided to act like the Ambassador of Stretching. So as ambassador I am going to give you a few tips and reminders and hopefully they will inspire you.

The goal of a post-workout stretching session is to relax and lengthen your muscles to prevent injuries. When done correctly, stretching can relieve chronic pain caused by tight and over used muscles.

When to Stretch:

While you want to stretch warm muscles that have been working, you do want to make sure you have cooled down properly after cardio before stretching. Let your heart rate slow to 100 beats per minute before you start stretching. Placing your head below your heart before your heart rate and breathing slow down can cause nausea, dizziness and possibly fainting. Dealing with those things would really kill your desire to stretch. So take that extra 5 minutes on the elliptical to allow your heart rate to slowly lower.

How to Stretch:

Do not bounce while you are stretching. This is called ballistic stretching and muscles just don't like it. You can tear muscles, ligaments and tendons by bouncing when you stretch.
Breathe in a nice smooth and controlled manner and DO NOT hold your breath. Think of feeding the muscles oxygen while you lengthen them,
Hold stretches for 20 seconds to a minute, but do not force a stretch. Allow the muscle to slowly lengthen.
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Learn to Love: Bilateral Breathing in Freestyle

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:30:00 -0700

Swimming is one of my favorite forms of cardio, but if you are going the distance swimming laps of freestyle you're going to want to learn how to breathe to both sides. I know trying to breathe on the side you aren't used to feels extremely awkward and uncomfortable, but in the long run it is well worth conquering the skill of bilateral breathing. You know it is skill since it has such a fancy sounding name!

The benefits of breathing both ways are that it:

Balances out your stroke, so you are not working out lopsided.
Builds symmetrical musculature on your back and arms (asymmetrical strength can lead to over use injuries).
Eases neck pain from always rotating to just one side.
If you swim in open water (as you would in a triathlon), you will be able to check for landmarks, avoid splashes from other swimmers as well as waves.

So next time you are swimming laps, practice breathing on your other side - once you are in the pool you will know immediately which side that is.

Interested in a few drills you can try? Well, read more

Here are a few approaches to the learning process:

Breathe to your right side on one length and to your left on the next. That way you get the oxygen you need but still develop a symmetrical stroke.
Breathe to your weaker side on warm-ups and cool-downs.
Experiment with 3 breaths to the left, then 3 to the right.

Once you have mastered bilateral breathing, or at least become comfortable with it, you want to breathe every 3 or 5 strokes when swimming freestyle, so you are alternating sides.

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