Thread: HOWTO: Increase Your Endurance Through Breathing (Dietary Advice Included =])

I would describe myself as a very healthy person in general, and since we're supposed to write tutorials at what we're good at, HERE I GO! ^^

You might've heard many people tell you to BREATHE while working out and stretching. This is not simply because it's better for your health, but you can actually improve your results through proper breathing techniques!

If you don't believe me, here are several reasons as to how breathing can make you improve:
1. You won't feel lightheaded after lifting heavy weights.
2. Your blood pressure will not spike; holding your breath is horrible for your heart.
3. The body requires oxygen to burn fat; it is, in a way, a catalyst to fat-loss.
4. You know those stitches you get while running? You're not breathing enough.



Okay, now that I've (hopefully) persuaded you, here's what you do for aerobic and anaerobic exercise:

AEROBIC (CARDIOVASCULAR):
1. Before you go and do ANYTHING AT ALL, STRETCH!
2. Just do any stretches that feel comfortable to you, just be sure to push the stretch when you breathe out, and relax as you breathe in.
3. Start running/biking/whatever at a comfortable pace, be sure to maintain your breathing rhythm and speed, or else you'll get stitches.
4. If you didn't listen to me and you've starting to feel a pain in your sides, don't think about it; trust me, they'll go away =].
5. If possible, near the end, push yourself as hard as possible while maintaining the same rhythm whilst breathing in DEEPER (but not so much that it makes you breathe slower).
6. Do this for as long as you feel comfortable. I recommend 1.5 hours for effective fat loss.
7. Walk around for a bit, congratulate yourself, stretch and cool down.

ANAEROBIC (MUSCULAR):
1. This would include weightlifting, mostly, or any other exercise which isn't really demanding as far as cardio health is concerned.
2. As mentioned above, STRETCH so that you have a proper range of motion.
3. Begin lifting. Be sure to breathe out with every muscle CONTRACTION (it is still highly debated as to whether it actually makes a difference to breathe out while the muscle is contracting, but I do it, and it seems to work).
4. If you're standing around with a pair of dumbbells in your hands with no idea as to what to do: *List of Basic Dumbbell Exercises*. I also recommend the P90X fitness program for those of you who are willing to fully commit to your bodies. My results are actually posted in the Entertainment section of this forum! =]

I'M STILL HAVING TROUBLE WITH BREATHING... HELP!:
One word: Yoga.
The entire IDEA of yoga is to breathe, relax, and get yourself into a trance-like, meditative state. Sure, one of your body parts are on fire, but the rest of you is just... Asleep. It's kind of hard to explain, but visualize throwing ice into a fire... That's exactly how you'll feel as you move out of particularly painful poses such as this one: Full Boat Pose. Read the instructions and try it for yourself; you'll understand. Note that your back will have to be FLAT, or at least try to make it so as much as possible. Also, if you don't feel like paying money for P90X (which is also easily obtainable through other means), or you just want to try yoga before anything else, yogajournal.com is an excellent resource for various poses you can attempt =]. I understand that breathing will be hard for you at first, but you must realize that you won't make any progress without practice. Breathe slowly, don't think about stressing issues, and just let yourself daydream through the pain =]. It feels great once you get a hang of it. I promise.

**NOTE**: If you'd like to see more in this guide, feel free to leave a message here and I'll see what I can elaborate on/add ^^.

ALSO: DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE DIETARY PORTION; I JUST NEED SOME TIME TO THINK/BRAINSTORM ^^.

This really is a great community, and I hope you enjoy what I've had to share!

SOURCES (Please note that not all of it is from the sites; a lot of it comes from my own personal experiences. =]):
http://www.thedietchannel.com/Fitnes...g-Exercise.htm
Dumbbell Exercises Complete with Animated Diagrams
http://www.yogajournal.com

I do tae kwon do every day and I think i stop breathing while doing my forms because afterwards I start breathing heavily. Of course, that may also be because I do put 200% power into everything, I have the lowest stances in the room, I have the most accuracy, the best stance and i exhaust myself really quickly.

I might be breathing heavily regardless of me breathing during a form... i dont know. I'll try concentrating on breathing today and see what happens.

Yeah, I've been trying out kenpo recently. Breathing out while you punch is the most effective for me =].

Tried several times good post here! got my mind refreshed

Originally Posted by Engineer

I do tae kwon do every day and I think i stop breathing while doing my forms because afterwards I start breathing heavily. Of course, that may also be because I do put 200% power into everything, I have the lowest stances in the room, I have the most accuracy, the best stance and i exhaust myself really quickly.

I might be breathing heavily regardless of me breathing during a form... i dont know. I'll try concentrating on breathing today and see what happens.

I also do taekwondo before but not everyday, weekly instead, for a duration of 6 years. But I stopped because of sh*tloads of school projects and school related stuff even until now.

When doing my forms I do it good enough and similar to what you do, the proper stances, accuracy, snaps in my movements, punches and in my blocks. And I also get exhausted after, but just a little.

I'd like to say that I was a decorated practitioner of the sport. I'm still only a 1st dan blackbelter though. And boy, taekwondo really helped my breathing, increased my physical endurance and improved my overall health. As a kid, I used to have asthma and instead of going to doctors for help, my parents enrolled me in my school's taekwondo club and from there I slowly lost my asthma and even became stronger and healthier.

So, taekwondo can help improve ones endurance and also teaches proper breathing techniques, most martial arts does. And jambalaya's tutorial here also helps. Great tut mate!

Haha, you're all welcome! =]

And upengineer, I used to have asthma too! The only difference is that my mom gave me this weird chinese remedy (mom's chinese, dad's dutch... Lol) comprised of boiled dates and alligator skin. Yes, it worked for some reason, and now I'm one of the best long distance runners at my school =P.