Started off in fine fettle with my sprints this morning. Did a 5 minute general warm up, then eased into the first sprint, and cranked things up from there. I finished that part of my workout in about 20 minutes, most of which was deep breathing and "recovering" from the sprint. I talk about sprints in great details in my "Fast and Furious Fitness" book, but for now, let's talk about deep breathing.
As you can well imagine, a set of hard sprints gets the heart pumping, and there are few (if any) exercises that require more deep breathing than sprints do. My own routine went like this: sprint, breathe in and out DEEPLY while recovering, and then back again. And getting the fresh air into my system felt GREAT - sort of like I had a "natural" drug pumped into my system, with only good side effects. By the end of my routine, I felt fantastic mentally and physically - sort of like I was floating on air - and this was after a set of hard sprints, which are supposed to exhaust you by the end of the workout. And I attribute all this to deep breathing - and with good reason. Breathe deeply, and you get fresh, lifegiving, OXYGEN into your system - which energizes and purifies your entire body. You feel more aware of your surroundings, and are able to perform that much better.
And in my particular case today, being that it's the middle of winter here, it felt that much better getting the cold, crisp air into my lungs and entire system while working up a healthy sweat.That's a "free" tip for you: when exercising outside in cold weather, concentrate even more on deep breathing, rather than trying to protect yourself from the cold (which is what most people end up concentrating upon), and you won't believe the natural high this gives you.
Most people forgot to concentrate on their breathing during their exercises - and this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. ALWAYS concentrate on your breathing - and once you start doing so, you will be amazed at the benefits you reap from doing so.
Deep breathing is something else that I cover in my book Fast and Furious Fitness, along with a host of other important information that is a must for any serious trainee. Be sure to grab a copy.
Thats all for today. If you are working out today, make sure you breathe deeply while doing it!
Best regards,
Rahul Mookerjee