Hold your Breath!

Want an immediate 1% improvement in your performance?

Your best effort is an aggregate of accumulated small wins from training, nutrition, and recovery. 

Here’s an evidence-based hack you can incorporate before your next race, that may have immediate performance improvement.

Effects of Pre-race Apneas on 400-m Freestyle Swimming Performance by Robertson, C, Lodin-Sundström, A, O'Hara, J, King, R, Wainwright, B, and Barlow, M. looked at the effects of breath holding prior to a 400m (~4min) swim. Compared to the warm up only group, the group that warmed up and incorporated 3 maximum breath holds prior to racing, saw a 1% improvement in their time. Thats a two and half second improvement, just by priming your breath! 

Athletes from a variety of sports have long incorporated different breathing protocols, to improve movement  quality, conditioning, and performance. While adequate breathing is key to performance, too much or too little can have detrimental effects. Swimmers in particular, train their breathing efficiency with specific breath holding sets in practice, from no breath 25s, to 3,5,7,9 breathing patterns across longer distances, but may employ an every other stroke breathing pattern for racing distances over 100m. 

After assessing movement quality, breath is the second thing I assess with my athletes. Breathing assessments provide insight into an athletes mobility, stability, and work capacity. During the assessment, observations are made on an athletes strategy to breathe, their ability to get adequate air in, and their tolerance for holding their breath or CO2.

Using and conditioning preferred breathing patterns helps athletes pressurize and create stability in their core, protect their lower back, and allows their limbs to be more mobile and produce force. Optimal breathing mechanics using the diaphragm, and filling the core three-dimensionally, provide ample O2, and help eliminate CO2. 

Breath can produce a calming affect, decreasing tension, and improving movement quality. Under stress, a controlled breath helps to keep your cool, and delay fatigue. Sufficient air can increase training intensity, and facilitating recovery after. 

Assess your breath

Sitting or lying comfortably, inhale through your nose, deeply, slowly, and completely. When you cannot inhale any more, start a timer and hold your breath. Stop the timer when you cannot hold your breath any longer, record your time. Note whether you felt you could get a full breath in and inflate your core, versus a shallower chest and upper body dominant breath. 

Your Score

< :20 Deficient 

:20-:60 Adequate 

:60-:90 Athletic

> :90 Elite 

Have room for improvement? Lie on your back. Start by assessing your mechanics. Using a nasal inhale, send your air down into your core, inflating and expanding symmetrically and three-dimensionally through your stomach, sides, and lower back. Feel your ribs expand, while staying down. Reduce the tendency to breath predominantly through your chest, elevating your sternum and shoulders. Hold your breath for a moment. Then exhale through your nose, deflating slowly and completing. Hallow out your core, and feel your deep core stabilizers contract. Hold your breath for a moment at the bottom. Repeat this for 10 repetitions, increasing the duration on your inhale, hold, exhale, and hold, over time. Reassessing your maximum breath hold every few weeks. 

Before your next race, whether its a 400m pool swim, sprint triathlon, or marathon swim or run, use these deep breathing strategies to calm pre-race jitters, and use 3 maximum breath holds just before racing to improve O2 saturation, CO2 tolerance and performance throughout!