Q: I find that I tend to hold my breath in moments of extreme exertion but when I am able to control my breathing, I seem to have better stamina. How important is your breathing?
A: If you consider being alive important, then breathing is about the most important thing you can do.
Holding your breath during moments of exertion is not uncommon, but it is not good either. Depending on how hard you are pushing, your blood pressure could skyrocket, you could become dizzy, nauseous or even faint. This is not a medical column, but the strain on your heart is not worth the risk.
After British strongman Eddie Hall lifted 500kg — while holding his breath — to set a new world dead lift record, he collapsed. A while later he said in a YouTube video: “People were wiping blood out of my ears, I had blood in my tear ducts and I had blood coming out of my nose. It was evident that I did something serious, like blowing something up in my head.”
None of us will ever lift half a tonne from the floor but the gruesome description provides a graphic example of how pressure can build in the head from exertion and holding your breath.
Often during the national lockdown, while listening to minister of co-operative governance & traditional affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma describe seemingly random rules, I have told myself “just breathe”. It appears natural that in moments of stress — be they physical or emotional — we forget the most fundamental mammalian activity. Our breathing muscles tense up and we become walking injuries waiting to happen.
This has led to an explosion of breathing coaches. A good friend was skinned of a few thousand rand just before lockdown — lured to a rustic retreat with the promise of life-changing breathing coaching. It’s unclear if the coaching failed or whether the pandemic’s money woes are just too much, but she’s still tense.
A concerted focus on breathing used to be the preserve of eastern disciplines such as karate, tai chi or yoga, or things you’d find in hippie communes or Rhodes drama department practicals.
I remember lying on the wooden stage floor for 60 minutes being told to breathe into my stomach — which I knew to be biologically impossible, which was irritating — wondering what I had signed up for. But the cue — to partake in diaphragmatic breathing — was a good one.
For life on the stage, just like every other activity, it teaches one to control the nerves and body. It’s the source of great power.
Think of ki or chi — a karate or boxing class that sounds like humans attempting choo-choo train sounds.
Perhaps pranayama yoga or breathing clinics are not for you. If the idea stresses you, just breathe. There are a few cues you can practice that will make your exercises more comfortable, safer and probably a little easier.
During endurance exercise, focus on controlled, rhythmic breathing in through your nose, and out through our mouth — but don’t overdo it. With a mask acting like a brown paper bag, you don’t want to hyperventilate and pass out!
With resistance training, breathe out during the concentric phase and breathe in during the eccentric. This means that the part of the exercise that requires the most effort is where you breathe out, such as standing up during the squat, or pushing up during the push-up.
Of course, it is possible that you feel the entire movement requires “the most” effort, which could lead to confusion. In that case, remember this: when your muscles contract, breathe out, when they relax, breathe in.
Lastly, if you are squatting, lifting or bearing weight, you need to brace yourself, or your core, to be more specific. This is to prevent you folding over under the weight and injuring yourself.
Simply put, tighten your stomach as if you’re about to take a punch, then, as my drama teacher taught me, focus on breathing down into your stomach. When you do so focus — probably to your horror — on your sides expanding.
One of most important cues for exercise, and life, is remember to breathe!
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