In my last post, “The Little Known Secret to Endless Cardio” I talked about the importance of breathing to cardio and performance in MMA (or any other sport that requires the ability to make decisions instantly).
I just wanted to follow up with some research data so you see I’m not just blowing smoke out of my ass.
Check out this graph, which I totally lost the reference to. If you know the study this comes from, please enlighten me.
What I want you to notice in this graph is that there is a direct linear relationship between heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) during exercise, which means that they go up together as exercise intensity increases.
The other thing to notice is that at the highest exertion point in this study, where the heart rate is around 170 bpm, the respiratory rate is around 27 breaths per minute.
That’s why in the video I said that Brandon Vera was hyperventilating – because his breathing rate was around 72 breaths per minute.
Taking short, shallow breaths when exerting energy lowers the amount of oxygen you get in your system and also decreases the amount of CO2 you expel from your lungs, both bad things if you need energy.
So when you’re sucking wind, focus on breathing slow and deep. Do this when recovering from and during work sets and hard intervals, between rounds when sparring or hitting the bag, and anytime your breathing gets elevated to get the diaphragm involved in your breathing and give you more energy to fight, train, or do whatever it is you’re doing that’s got you breathing hot and heavy. 🙂