A Brief History Of Breathing Exercises

 By James Hooper

Right from ancient history it has been known that a more healthy or powerful breath - meant more power, more endurance, and in fighting more focus.

Today when you watch a movie and the cop chases down a villain of some sort - the usual event is that there is not much power left for resistance.  When we are "puffed", we dont usually put up much of a fight!

James Bond Puffed?  Never!

If you saw the second to last James Bond film with the extraordinary chase scene right near the start that took us from amazing stunt to amazing stunt - the interesting thing is that at no time did we see Bond or the villain stop for a "puff"?  Despite the intense physicality of the scene - it was not enough to make either "superior" athlete even take a breath through their mouth!

This was seen again in recent Olympics where after intense effort by the most elite athletes - at the end of a race they were able to take only a few seconds to recover -and then to celebrating - and to interviews.  The athletes that were in another class were able to talk into a microphone without even sounding "breathy".

Perhaps one of the key points of breathing is that the correct breathing exercise and training program allows us to almost "never be puffed."  In competition this means that breathing is not the limit on our performance - it is another factor.

What Is Your Handbrake?  Your breathing?

I recall a time just after I began breathing exercises with Buteyko when for the first time in my life - I was able to run freely.  I was able for the first time in my memory to run to the limit of my muscles - not to the limit of my breathing.  Previously my breathing system had been adjusted to make me "puffed" after only a short exertion.  Now I could run and run until my legs burned like fire.

Another relevant lesson came from one of martial arts instructors - who had been into full contact karate - and done very well.  He said his key was to never let his opponent "see" his breath.  He, in turn, focused on the breathing of his opponent and would attack just after he saw an in-breath.  He quoted continually that "Perfect breathing is like no breathing at all." 

So how do we choose "breathing exercises"?  Over the decades I have been told different things by a large number of "authorities".  Early on I was told to breathe in as deeply as I could and out as deeply as I could.  This was intended to get rid of all the 'bad' carbon dioxide, and get lots of fresh "good" oxygen in.  That was my model for years.  All before the idea of hyperventilation become known to me.

The other model is that  "take a deep breath and RELAX" that was in every stress or self development course from the 1970's onwards.  This is a good thing - when you do it once.  If you do it all day - you will hyperventilate yourself to illness.

And what are we supposed to do after intense exercise?  Does breathing more deeply then help us 'recover' faster?  Or not - as suggested with Buteyko? 

 Test and Measure - Believe Nothing - Take It For Checking

For me the answer to what breathing exercises are most useful comes from my "science-geek" background.  ie do a test and measure the results.  For the after exertion breathing a wonderful device called a pulse monitor is all that we need to do our own tests.  I designed a test that ran for 21 days with me doing a very similar workout each day - and using one of two different breathing techniques to determine which allowed me to recover faster.  Recovery was determined to be when my pulse dropped back to 120 from about 180.

You don't need to go that extent - but it is good to actually 'get' things rather just understand them.  For example - if you are an asthmatic - then you are crazy if you dont do a hyperventilation test [in a safe way].  This test takes you from understanding that loss of CO2 WILL start an asthma attack - to you actually getting it.  When you get it - the path becomes as clear as day.  It allows you to take the bully by the horns - and make dramatic changes without resisting and going back to previous patterns.

Yoga is an interesting breathing training.  Some pranayama on the surface seem to encourage hyperventilation.  Much of this depends on the skill and knowledge of your teacher - but usually the breath training becomes breath holding.  And this is done while in severe exertion holding some very tough positions.  Apart of the breathing side of yoga - it does massively increase flexiblity and improve posture.  There is no argument anywhere in the breathing training world that increased flexibilty and decreased tension next to having our spines straight - are key elements to breathing health.

This carries over to the benefits of Chiropractics.  If your spine is aligned, then first of all our organs are where they should be.  A bent spine puts pressure on the lungs and intestines and can directly change our breathing.  Not only that, our spine is the major pathway for all of our nervous transmissions. 

One of the benefits of having asthma is that we get feedback on our breathing quite quickly.  If it is not right - we get asthma.  If you dont have the ability to get asthma - you may have to wait for different feedback - blood pressure, nervous problems, epilepsy, changs in blood chemistry that makes more 'alergic', classic migraine, indigestion, a variety of smooth muscle contraction issues that lead to amongst other things haemoroids!

My Recommendation

Based on the tests I have completed on myself since I was smart (or stupid) enough to do it to myself - the model used in the Buteyko Method is the most elegant and powerful.  I believe I have tried just about everything in the last 30 years on my way to "solving" my own breathing.

My suggestion is that you simply decide to test and measure - and do what is in front of you to get started.

Be well,

James Hooper (Buteyko Instructor and Author)