It’s the middle of the workout, you’re struggling through box jumps, and the best piece of advice the coach can give you is “breathe”… gee, thanks a bunch coach ?
Actually, it’s probably the best advice you could get at any point during the WOD ?
If your breath goes to crap ? , everything else will follow
So! Obviously you are breathing… but are you breathing efficiently and effectively
Just like your workout, your breathing needs to be warmed up and practiced ?
Try this next time you workout and I guarantee you will not only perform better but you will feel better while you are doing it
Before you workout complete 5 min of box breathing
Think of this part a your warm up before your warm up. I will usually do this with my hip close to the wall with my legs resting on the wall at a right angle
Then just do this
- Inhale for 4 seconds ?
- Hold your lungs full for 4 seconds ?
- Exhale for 4 seconds ?
- Hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds ?
The idea with this is to set a habit of breathing deep into your belly, not to maintain 4 second intervals throughout.
While you are warming up and prepping your movements, pay attention to where and when you are breathing, you want to try and maintain this in the WOD.
A good way to think about your breath and your movement is swimming
When you’re swimming, if you have any idea what you’re doing, you will know when and where you are going to breathe to prevent you from losing your rhythm and freaking out in the water
Treat ever WOD like this, have a plan for your breathing before you start