The impact of correct breathing.

In this blog we tell you more about the impact you can make with correct breathing..

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Have you ever seen someone completely out of breath while he / she was calm? Chances are very small you did. The calmer your breathing, the calmer you are. Sounds logical right?

The ‘chicken or the egg’ can also be used in the "breathing story". Is my breathing this bad as a reaction to stress or do I get stressed as a result of my bad breathing? Let me just be clear. I have no idea! Probably both will influence each other. Will I ever know exactly? I doubt it.

Although concrete answers do particularly well on the internet, I have to disappoint you on this one. What I can tell you though is how you can take control of that one piece that you have control over. In many situations you have to deal with the stress factor, but you can however take control of your breathing and thereby reduce the effects of the stress.

When I talk about stress, I don't just talk about mental stress such as a business deadline that you have to meet or a discussion with your mother-in-law. This also includes physical stress such as high intensity training like CrossFit.

To get complete control over your breathing, good coaching is an absolute must. In this blog, however, we want to help you get started with your breathing yourself. And to be honest, it is no rocket science. With this simple tip you can make a big impact on your breathing and therefore your stress tolerance.

Tip: Make it a habit to breathe through your nose. In other words, just keep your mouth shut.

Our system reacts strongly to changes. Nature has decided for us that we mammals breathe through our noses when we are calm and breathe through our mouths when we are in a period of stress or illness. So my dog is always stressed? No, in his mouth are also his sweat glands ... another story.

Long ago, a ‘’not so animal-friendly’’ study was done from which we could learn something. Scientists have observed two groups of apes of the same breed. With one group of them they closed the nostrils, so only mouth breathing was possible. After observation, it was clear that the group of apes that could only breathe through their mouths had less endurance and also had crooked teeth. While they received the same food and physical exercise as the group that could breath through their nose.

How does that work exactly? In our previous blog you could already read about the sympathetic and the para-sympathetic nervous system. Now, for our system, mouth breathing is equivalent to a stress situation and therefore triggers our sympathetic nervous system. We end up in a "fight / flight" state, giving our body the impression that there is a reason for stress. A nose breath works exactly the other way. This stimulates the para-sympathetic system and gives our system the impression that we are in a period of peace and tranquility.

This is the reason that at CrossFit Ede - Vallei we always insist on a nose breathing during the longer workouts. This keeps us calm during the workout and thus ensures that we can sustain the workout better and keep our breathing under control for a longer period of time.