3 common breathing mistakes people make during exercise

We breathe without thinking. So do we really need to think about it during a workout? You might if you’re making one of these common breathing mistakes:

1. Not regulating your breathing
Whether running, weightlifting or something else, Dr. Hedt stresses the importance of maintaining consistent breath work as much as possible.

“When your breathing is regulated, your body and muscles receive the steady stream of oxygen it takes for them to operate most effectively,” says Dr. Hedt. “There’s also a calming effect to this. Consistent breathing can help trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, which essentially helps relax your body — allowing for better blood flow.”

Unsteady, short or heavy breathing, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect, almost stressing your body out instead.

That said, we all know how taxing a good workout can be, often triggering harder and harder breathing. Does all of this mean that being out of breath is bad?

“We see this with cardiovascular exercise the most,” explains Dr. Hedt. “You might be actively pushing the boundaries, where you almost want to become out of breath because that means you’re challenging your body to adapt to the stress you’re giving it. Whenever you push your body like that, it recalibrates so it can be ready the next time.”

It’s how you build cardiovascular endurance, so there’s a place for it. But don’t overdo it.

“Being out of breath can become a hindrance to performance, because now you’re not getting enough oxygen to your muscles and the rest of your body,” explains Dr. Hedt. “You don’t want to be out of breath your whole workout. This is where conditioning comes in, slowly pushing yourself to build this endurance over time so you get better and better each workout.”

2. Holding your breath
We’ve all been there — especially if “there” is toward the end of a set of heavy dumbbell bench presses or the last 30 seconds of a sprint — when we realize we haven’t really been breathing at all.

“When you’re doing a heavy lift or something at a high intensity or velocity, it’s easy to forget about your breathing,” says Dr. Hedt. “It can get to the point where you’re so focused on all the effort it’s taking to perform the activity or motion, you forget to breathe entirely.”

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This is a big no-no. Not only can it lead to those huge blood pressure spikes, but it can also hinder your recovery between sets and even your overall exercise recovery.

“Even though you finish that set, you may not rebound as quickly before your next one, or between workouts, because your body now has to do a lot more to get your respiratory rate back to normal,” says Dr. Hedt. “We talked about the calming effect of consistent, controlled breathing, but now that’s kind of out the window because you’re entering your next workout already playing catch up.”

3. Not utilizing diaphragmatic breathing beforehand
Related to holding your breath but slightly different is how you should breathe before beginning a particular activity.

“Where people sometimes go wrong is, right before doing something intense, you see them almost hyperventilate as they try to psych themselves up to do this really hard thing,” says Dr. Hedt. “They’re huffing and puffing for five to 10 seconds, and now they’re going into their lift or whatever it is with a less efficient respiratory rate.”

Instead, Dr. Hedt recommends engaging in what’s called diaphragmatic breathing, or belly breathing — starting your breaths from deep within your abdomen.

“Diaphragmatic breathing is when you breathe in from your belly, helping your diaphragm to expand your lungs,” explains Dr. Hedt. “This can help you find that consistent, calm breathing that you need to perform optimally.”