It’s critical that we focus on breath during exercise and that we’re coaching clients on how to use their breath to maximize their work. The right breathing pattern ensures that the muscles you are targeting get enough oxygen and it lubricates your joints. 

There are several common mistakes people make when exercising.

• Holding breath
• Taking shallow breaths or breathing too deeply
• Breathing quickly
• Inhaling or exhaling at incorrect time

When you exercise, your heart beats faster and working muscles require more oxygen. Your brain senses this so you naturally start breathing quicker. If you don’t breathe properly, it can impact movements, posture and coordination, or cause dizziness, headaches or fatigue. Depending on the part of the work out, there are specific types of breathing you should do:

• Cardio 
  • Breathe from your belly without letting chest rise/fall – ensures proper oxygen delivery to muscles during that intense time
• Strength training 
  • Exhale while the specific muscle you’re working is contracting or shortening, and inhale while it’s lengthening
  • Always exhale when exerting energy
  • DO NOT hold breath here even though it can be natural – continue to breathe evenly 
• Core:
  • Inhale as you release and lengthen, exhale as you contract
• Yoga
  • Inhale deeply from belly, which helps increase concentration
    • This type of breathing engages our pelvic floor and abdominal wall (second article link below has great instructions for really engaging breath)
• Stretching
  • Holding breath is natural here, but make a concentrated effort to breathe normally while stretch (will improve circulation to joints)

Visuals: 

• Exhale when you get “punched in the gut” aka, when your core contracts! 
• Exhale round your back (core pulls in), inhale as you lengthen your core
• More examples in attached photos below

There’s a lot of additional great info in the links below – I recommend checking them out! We will probably do an open gym on this eventually. Let us know if you have any questions!

http://www.indiatimes.com/health/tips-tricks/why-it%E2%80%99s-important-to-breathe-correctly-while-you-exercise-242780.html 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/114694-importance-breathing-during-exercise/