The role of breathing in endurance and regeneration

The proper role of breathing is important in most sports — a requirement and guarantee of outstanding performance. In our country many coaches and athletes are still at the beginning of breathing training. Yet by focusing on breathing during training, and by consciously applying the technical devices and tricks developed for this purpose, endurance can be increased and recovery accelerated.

The training mask

The favorable effects can be achieved through the regular use of appropriate aids (the best known is the training mask) and/or by regularly performing breathing exercises developed for this purpose for a sufficient period of time. Through these exercises and aids it is possible to improve cellular-level oxygen delivery, which is the key to higher performance and endurance.

That is the goal, and all it requires is that the athlete's respiratory center and whole body gradually become accustomed to a higher carbon dioxide concentration in the arterial blood.

Among the books on breathing, two were published in Hungarian in 2017 that can be very useful for athletes (and their coaches). Miklós Ferenc Barna: The Healing Power of Breathing and Patrick McKeown: The Oxygen Advantage. By studying these books you can learn many useful ideas and exercises.

What an individual's breathing becomes as a result of practicing depends on the nature of the exercises, the frequency, correctness and duration of execution, and individual characteristics, but with adequate practice anyone can achieve significant results.

You can buy a training mask by clicking here.

The role of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in breathing

The respiratory center works continuously; it never stops and, as is natural, regulates vegetative breathing — that is, the current amount of respiration — according to the carbon dioxide concentration in the arterial blood.

Many people probably think we inhale because the oxygen content in our bodies drops. That is not the reason for inhalation!

The respiratory center issues the command to inhale when the carbon dioxide content rises above the accustomed level. The appropriate exercises and techniques serve the goal of raising the carbon dioxide level that triggers inhalation and keeping it consistently higher.

The role of breathing

Why is this good? — someone might ask.

Because hemoglobin — responsible for oxygen transport in our blood — releases its oxygen more readily and to a greater extent to the cells when the carbon dioxide concentration there is higher. If the carbon dioxide concentration in the blood increases while the oxygen concentration hardly decreases, this increases oxygen release in the cells, thereby improving their oxygen supply (for example, increasing VO2max), and through that their energy level, which is the key to improved endurance. This is the Bohr effect, discovered in 1904 by the Danish physiologist Dr. Christian Bohr.

This physiological principle is known to many, but only a few athletes apply it. As far as I know, special exercises for this are used mostly among swimmers.

If the carbon dioxide concentration in the body increases over a longer period, it triggers a range of changes. Blood composition, kidney function, the hematopoietic system and metabolism (and possibly diet) change. Positive changes occur through rather complex processes. If breathing is permanently altered, the athlete effectively "creates a new body" because of the many adaptations. This new body becomes even better suited to sustained exertion while recovery ability improves, since during rest periods cellular energy supply is better (even the need for sleep decreases).

Not only general endurance increases, but speed endurance does as well. For example, a football player may be able to do 20% more and 20% longer sprints per match while still having plenty of strength left after the 85th minute. At the same time they can still pay attention, since the main "beneficiaries" of increased carbon dioxide tolerance are the heart and the brain.

The control pause

Carbon dioxide tolerance can be easily measured by determining the control pause developed by Professor Buteyko, and thus the athlete can even monitor at home the change achieved with the exercises. The higher the control pause, the better the endurance and recovery.

The control pause is the time interval, in normal resting conditions, that elapses between a typical exhalation and the appearance of breathlessness while the person holds their breath. It is particularly important to measure this value immediately after waking in the morning.

The control pause is a useful measure because its value does not depend on how much the athlete can tolerate holding their breath.

Although athletes themselves must perform breathing training using the tools and exercises, cooperation with a breathing therapist is indispensable for effectiveness. The most effective approach is not only breathing exercises during training sessions, but changing breathing overall. If an athlete only performs breathing exercises during the training time, progress will be slower and smaller than what could be achieved by changing breathing throughout the day (and this can be comfortably integrated into daily life). Understanding and accepting the full method leads to better cooperation and results.

For both physiological and psychological reasons I consider it advisable to start breathing exercises and the use of aids no earlier than age 16.