If you’re ever played the procrastinator game, you know the feeling of trying to cram a few weeks’ worth of work into a weekend. It sucks, and I think you’ll be happy to nod along to that sentiment. That being said, procrastinating to get something done is better than not getting it done at all. We’re interested in results, after all.

Now let’s shift gears to breathing. I’ll put it to you straight, my lovely procrastinators: if you haven’t been doing your breathing homework (more on that in a minute), now’s crunch time. We’re currently facing a global pandemic that’s quite unforgiving to those whose respiratory system is in less than optimal shape. Low blood oxygen levels are one of the telltale signs of a critically ill patient, and it turns out that developing your skill of breathing (and it is a skill) in the form of increasing CO2 tolerance and improving your breathing mechanics makes you a much more efficient, effective machine when it comes to moving air in and out and getting the most oxygen you can from that air.

Doctors are learning that mechanical ventilation isn’t as effective for critically ill patients as they had hoped, and are finding success with other strategies such as getting patients into different positions in an effort to get their lungs working and break the vicious cycle of diminishing blood oxygen saturation, hyperventilation, and a racing heart rate. (You can read more about doctors’ unexpected findings regarding critically-ill patient care HERE.)

The long and short of it is this: an efficient respiratory system, along with other markers of good health and fitness, looks a lot like a solid piece of body armor as we face a massively disruptive virus that’s surprising medical professionals and scientists at every turn. And while it would be great to have started your practice a few months, a year, or a decade ago, now is the best time available to you. Act on it.

More good news: there’s no need to go deep into the weeds on how to get your breathing into better shape.

You have three simple pieces of homework:

- breathe through your nose for most of the day (improves breathing mechanics, CO2 tolerance)

- practice breathing with your diaphragm (breathe into your belly) when you’re under physical stress (exercise) or mental stress (improves breathing mechanics, efficiency)

- practice slowing your breathing down, and using your breath to downregulate (improves state control, breath control, stress management)

Better yet, we have an ongoing series available to you to give you additional practice and tools to make the most of your breathwork. Tune into Introducing Breathwork today on Zoom at 10 am, and invite a friend or three -- we all need this. Message us if you need the link.

Happy breathing! #developyourself

-Preston

@cfnobo

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04192020 - Rest Day

Breathwork:

• 3 rounds, “filling the glass with air” (all nasal, ocean breath)

• 5x ⅓ full (diaphragm only) (3-0-3-0)

• 5x ⅔ full (diaphragm + lower chest) (6-0-6-0)

• 5x full (diaphragm + chest + shoulders) (9-0-9-0)

• 3 rounds, loaded breathing (nasal in, mouth out)

• 4 max effort loaded breaths in curl up (3-3-3-0) (nasal in, mouth out)

• 4 max effort loaded breaths in side bridge (2/side) (3-3-3-0)

• 4 max effort loaded breaths in birddog (2/side) (3-3-3-0)

• *Begin each attempt with 2 max capacity breaths lying on your back

• 15 cycles cadence breathing (all nasal, ocean breath)

• 4-4-8-0 cadence
  
  

Mobility:

• Accumulate 2 mins/side for the following, using contract (:05) & relax (:10)

• Chest soft tissue work

• Lateral deltoid soft tissue work

• Tricep soft tissue work

• 2 mins of diaphragm/lower rib soft tissue work (use a soft implement)

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