It’s a new year. You decide you can do this. You know it’s not just an impulse but a lifestyle change. You’re going to go to the gym today …and tomorrow… and at least a few times this week. You’re going to go after work; you’re going to get on the treadmill. You’re going to lift those weights; you’re going to sweat.

However, halfway through work you crash. You crash out when you get home. On the occasions you make it to the gym, you start to move, to run, to lift, and then you have to stop. You’re gasping. Often it’s not the movements that are difficult, it’s the ability to breathe while doing them. Those of us who are jumping back on the fitness wagon are probably not used to the exertion that exercise puts on an out-of-commission body. Yet those of us who are healthier yet still struggle as they work out aren’t exempt from the same hindering conditions: we are sleep deprived and we can’t catch our breaths!

We worry about speed, strength, time, heart rate, nutrition, stretching, workout apparel, equipment and energy food and drinks, yet rarely do we consider two of the most basic requirements to be active: sleep and respiration – and enough and the right kind of both. Take running for example; how can we expect to run if we can’t stop yawning or can’t breathe? How can we expect to lift if there’s no energy to do so or the ability to breathe while we lift? People can spend a lavish amount of time focusing on almost every facet of fitness except for the one they need to establish before they get to the gym, sleep, and the one they require while they’re there, breathing.

We forget about these missing components of fitness, yet they are vital. But in case you come from the camp of I’ll sleep when I die, here are the facts, and some of them might surprise you.

We all know that we’re supposed to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night to maintain good health, alertness, memory and performance and that athletes and active people should sleep more than the rest. We don’t need the new research that suggests simply getting more sleep can improve (and I propose enable) exercise and athletic performance to convince us it is reality. But some processes take place when you sleep that regulate hunger, metabolism and fitness capability. When you sleep, the body’s growth hormone is produced, and protein synthesis takes place in your muscles if you eat food with protein during the day. So not only can growth be stunted with lack of sleep, but the release of the growth hormone activates muscle recovery and repair. Stew Smith, a former Navy Seal, military fitness trainer and author of several fitness and self defense books writes for Military.com in “The Importance of Sleep”,  “without adequate sleep (eight hours a night), there is not enough rest for muscle cell growth and repair,” and “recovery and growth will take a backward step in your training program if you do not prioritize sleep.”

The site 3fatchicks.com reports in its blog on the importance of sleep and exercise, “It’s a little realized fact that our bodies are designed for labor. They are designed to work hard enough to become tired. That is why muscles grow back larger when they’re lightly torn. However, lack of sleep can produce similar effects to over training. Torn muscles can only repair when they are allowed to rest. […] Every day that you drive your body […] needs to be followed by a night of completely dormant sleep.”

Equally important is that sleep deprivation is linked to obesity. The National Sleep Foundation cites, “sleep deprivation may also inhibit one’s ability to lose weight – even while exercising and eating well!”  The foundation also cites a 1999 study by the University of Chicago that showed that restricting sleep to just 4 hours per night for a week brought healthy young adults to the glucose and insulin levels of diabetics. Here’s the deal. Sleeping is the time when your body regulates appetite and consequently, metabolism. When you get a good night’s sleep, eight hours or more, your body produces the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite. Balanced levels of leptin makes you feel full after you eat. Adequate sleep also regulates the release of the hormone ghrelin, which increases appetite. Sleep deprivation counters the balancing affects of both, creating a situation of more ghrelin, increased hunger, and less leptin, decreased ability to become full. Livestrong.com reports, “skimping on sleep reverses these positive effects.”

Cristina Rosenfeld-Bless, certified advanced personal trainer and director of Fit ‘n Fun Fitness in Orange County, says on the center’s site,  “sadly, just two nights of bad sleep will cut your satiety hormone leptin by 20 percent and increase your hunger hormone ghrelin by 30 percent. That one-two punch makes you much more likely to snack on high-carb treats, which couldn’t come at a worse time for your insulin levels.” What’s more, she notes of the University of Chicago study, “researchers found that just three nights of poor sleep made the bodies of young, healthy test subjects 25 percent less sensitive to insulin. This level of insulin resistance is comparable to that brought on by carrying 20 to 30 extra pounds.”

Notice that I continue to stress ‘adequate’ or the ‘right kind’. Sleep also helps regulate metabolism by affecting the way your body processes and stores carbohydrates. Some researchers believe that slow-wave sleep, the deep, dreamless sleep that you should sink into about three or four times a night is the stage of sleep that regulates metabolism.

Sleep also acts as a critical clean up function, crucial for health and energy. It is a time when not only muscles recharge and repair but also other organ systems, and most importantly, your brain’s only chance to recover. Sleep is a process of flushing and strengthening neural connections; you can actually become psychotic on long periods without sleep.

In case you’re still not convinced, worldimagenaturals.com, a site devoted to publishing alternative articles on health and fitness even reports, “the cerebral cortex of the brain that coordinates higher nervous activity is only able to recover during sleep,” and “the adrenal system does the majority of it recharging and recovery between the hours of 11:00pm and 1:00am. The gallbladder also dumps toxins during this time. If you are awake, the toxins can back up into the liver and cause further health problems.”

Cardiovascular health is yet another area affected by the amount of sleep you get. Sleep disorders and deprivation have been linked to coronary heart disease, hypertension, increased levels of the stress hormone, cortisol and irregular heartbeat. The third stage of sleep identified as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) is a major slumber stage that enables refreshness but also a time that regulates lactate balances. REM deprivation has been shown to elevate blood lactate on the following day from exercising. Higher lactates result in perceiving more exertion on the body, and therefore, a greater effort is required to workout. Greater perceived exertion, faster time to exhaustion.

Just like you might notice after a night of good sleep you can run that mile with less fatigue or lift the weight that you couldn’t when exhausted, so too can you fail one day working out without proper breathing yet master the workout the next once you’ve learned to regulate it. Breathing is just as crucial as sleep for physical fitness. Whether you’re doing cardio, stretching, weightlifting, yoga or pilates, knowing how to regulate your breathing is fundamental to enabling both aerobic and anaerobic activity and making it effective.

If you can’t catch your breath while working out, you can often experience dizziness, nautia, cramping, shortness of breath (dyspna) or burnout. Learning to breathe during exercise can prevent dizziness, improve blood flow, heighten athletic performance and remember this: increase fat burning! That’s right; proper breathing increases fat burning. Smith writes, “Oxygen + Water = Fat Burn.” The body needs water and increased oxygen to burn fat as an energy source. As you add more water and oxygen, the body is able to use retained water for excretion, prompting weight loss of retained water and toxins, which by the way, is not the same as sitting in a sauna and sweating which actually dehydrates you.

Here’s what goes on when you breathe. When you inhale, air is pulled into microscopic air sacs in the lungs called alveoli; alveoli delivers oxygen to red blood cells and carbon dioxide is then transferred out of the blood to the air through alveoli. Oxygen-rich blood flows to your heart, which then pumps it out to your body. You exhale the carbon dioxide.

Fitness writer Jim Sloan explains on Livestrong.com, “when you exercise, your brain notes that there is an increase in carbon dioxide and lactic acid—a byproduct of exercising muscles–in your blood and tells your respiratory muscles to increase the speed and depth of your breaths so you can offload all that extra carbon dioxide and deliver additional oxygen to your working muscles.”

A good breathing pattern ensures oxygen is delivered to your working muscles to keep contracting. Proper breathing during exertion also helps prevent internal injury like hernias, blood vessel strain and high blood pressure. (for a great workout that practices beneficial breathing, check out celebrity trainer Jennifer Galardi’s “Ballet Body”:  http://new.totalvid.com/product.php?v=Jennifer-Galardi—Ballet-Body)

Many people make the mistakes of holding their breath while lifting or having irregular breathing while executing cardio. And if you’re new to a fitness routine breathing can seem uncontrollable and overwhelming by itself. But the good news is every fitness routine is a process of progress; you can control your breathing.

Holding your breath is common and can be pretty detrimental. Its technical term is called the Valsalva Maneuver. It happens when you close the glotus, the flap that controls air entering the vocal cords, and there’s an increase in pressure in your abdomen and chest cavity. This causes the air trapped in your lungs to become pressurized and restricts venous blood return. This decreases the amount of blood your heart returns to your body, and in turn raises your blood pressure. These side effects create the dizzy feeling you can feel after exertion. Holding your breath restricts oxygen and contains carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide levels are tightly regulated within the blood, so the body is highly susceptible to react in different ways to even slight changes in it. An increase in carbon dioxide creates unhealthy acidity in the blood and a decrease in endurance, and shortness of breath can result if breathing isn’t regulated.

On the other hand, some people breathe too much or too fast. Hyperventilation, in contrast, is the increase in breathing well above what the body needs. It can be brought about by exercise anxiety, respiratory disorders, or malpracticed breathing patterns. Hyperventilation can cause a significant drop in carbon dioxide levels, which can also lead to light-headedness and even unconsciousness.

There are different breathing requirements for different kinds of exercise. You’ve heard people recommend relaxing breathing, but how do you regulate breathing while you run, bike or play sports? There are different recommendations out there on ratios for breathing during aerobic exercise, but not to get confused with counting, make sure you breathe full enough inhales and exhales to be about even. As intensity of aerobic activity increases, you’ll naturally breathe more frequently and shallowly as you feel more exerted. An even ratio of inhales to exhales will allow the necessary oxygen to circulate to your brain and muscles and carbon dioxide to circulate out of your system as well as allow you to engage your thinking, ie. focus. Coordinated breathing during cardio or throughout movements can help you focus, and focus, in turn, helps regulate breathing. When done properly, cardio combined with good breathing increases cardiac output and decreases stress on the heart.

Improper breathing can be even more hazardous while weightlifting. Many people, especially those new to resistance training, experience strain and powerlessness while lifting because they hold their breaths or haven’t learned when to inhale and exhale. If you’ve ever worked out with a trainer, you’ve more than likely been advised specifically on your breathing; that’s one area you have to learn to self administer. But breathing while lifting is much easier to remember and control. The most important thing to remember is to inhale on the easiest part of the exercise and exhale on exertion, what is called the concentric phase of the movement (the most difficult part). The concentric phase of the movement will involve the muscle contracting –pulling, curling, pushing or raising for example. When you are pushing a bench press, you’d inhale as you bring the bar to your chest and exhale as you push up and off. (For a great arm workout that stresses oxygen to the muscels check out “Body Balancing” by Tim Michaels on Totalvid: http://new.totalvid.com/product.php?v=Body-Balancing-by-Tim-Michaels—Bis,-Tris,-Forearms) This kind of breathing is important in preventing injury and blood vessel strain and in amping strength performance and endurance.

Ok – so you think: easier said than done, right? Maybe, but remember, physical fitness sustains multiple variables, and the fitness enterprise is a progressive process. You might not get beneficial breathing down in the first couple tries, but it will improve with effort. Here are some tips to help you remember what should happen. Take a couple deep breaths before performing a lift set. Make sure you’re using weight that isn’t more than you can possibly lift. Talk it out; that’s right –make it mind over matter (“I can do this”). Breathe from the belly, or your diaphragm –not your chest; breathing from the diaphragm allows the lungs to fill up more. Never hold your breath; make sure you’re always breathing. Exhale on exertion. If you’ve ever been to the gym and listened, you might notice weightlifters making all kinds of noises as they lift. That’s ok. If you huff, puff or grunt, just make sure you are inhaling and exhaling accordingly.

Before you do aerobic exercise, stretch. Stretching is not only necessary for both aerobics and resistance training, it’s also a prime time to practice breathing. Good habits can form in factions. If you start to change your diet by the way you snack, it’s likely that you will progress to reformulating every meal. Likewise, if you start practicing good breathing while you stretch and warm up, it’s likely you will progress to regulating your breathing effectively throughout an entire workout. Practicing breathing before you begin to work out is also a more relaxing time during which you can focus and visualize exercising.

(Check out breathing practices by trainer Tannis Kobrinksky in “Well Worked Out” on Totalvid.com: http://new.totalvid.com/product.php?v=WELL-Worked-Out-with-Tannis-Kobrinsky)

Focus and judgment are essential to establishing a beneficial pattern. You have to judge your capabilities by testing yourself. The American Council on Exercise explains that you can determine your effort level during exercise by how hard you are breathing. If you are doing something moderate like walking, you shouldn’t be breathing so hard you can’t carry on a conversation. If you are doing more intense cardio like running, you should be able to at least talk in short sentences. Psychologist, life coach, meditation therapist and author of Mind Publications, Dr. Vijai Sharma explains that, “It is important to keep track of your ‘vital statistics,’ including your pulse rate, your breathing rate and your walking or jogging pace.” Determine the comfortable walking and jogging pace you can maintain without shortness of breath. If you experience shortness of breath, slow down. Once you judge your capabilities, bring your mind into the equation. Visualize how you need to breathe and how you need to move. A big advocate of the interdependence of mind and body, Dr. Sharma says, “besides being mindful, visualize when you exercise.” Prepare yourself for your workout and exertion. “Mentally rehearse before you actually exercise,” Sharma says.

Exhaustion before you begin to workout and maintenance of breathing capacity while you workout are important hurdles in fitness. Sufficient sleep and proper breathing are two forgotten ingredients in the recipe. Sleep is so crucial to fitness not only for the generation of energy, but because so many bodily processes take place during it that regulate, balance and repair –most notably your metabolism. Proper breathing is imperative because the body, especially the muscles, require sufficient and fluid exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide when exerted. And note that the less you sleep, the more your breathing might have to go into overdrive during exercise. Remember: “well rested – well tested”. Everyone should negotiate their personal requirements of sleep and breathing. Fitness is a progressive process; you can always improve it, and it’s multidimensional. As the National Sleep Foundation puts it, “health is complex – if one part of the body system suffers, you’re likely to see consequences in other areas.”

Sources:

“To Improve Fitness, Try Sleep”: Tara Parker-Pope

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/for-a-better-workout-try-sleep/

“The Importance of Sleep”: Stew Smith

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/health/importance-of-sleep

“Sleep to Keep Fit”: Summer Health Festival

http://www.summerhealthfestival.com/sleep.html

“Importance of Sleep”: Worldimagenaturals.com

http://www.worldimagenaturals.com/blog/archives/000034_importance_of_sleep.html

“Importance of Sleep”: Cristina Rosenfeld-Bless

http://www.fitnfunfitness.com/fit-tips/importance-of-sleep/

“The Importance of Sleep and Exercise on Performance”: 3FatChics.com

http://www.3fatchicks.com/the-importance-of-sleep-and-exercise-on-performance/

“Importance of Sleep in Weight Loss”: Pamela Ellgen

http://www.livestrong.com/article/119644-importance-sleep-weight-loss/

“Sleep: The Missing Fitness Component”: Soccer Training Info

http://www.soccer-training-info.com/soccer_fitness_components.asp

“Sleep, Health and Fitness”: Tahnee Kinsman

http://www.healthfitness.com.au/articles/sleep/sleep_health_fitness.htm

“Diet, Exercise and Sleep”: National Sleep Foundation

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/diet-exercise-and-sleep

“The Importance of Breathing”: Stew Smith

http://military-fitness.military.com/2010/09/the-importance-of-breathing.html

“Anatomy of Breathing”: Craig Coghlin

http://www.myfit.ca/archives/viewanarticle.asp?table=fitness&ID=35&subject=Anatomy+of+Breathing

“Breathing During Exercise”: Stew Smith

http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/breathingexercise.htm

“Breathing, Muscles and the Mind – The Tools of Fitness”: Viajai Sharma Ph.D

http://www.mindpub.com/art198.htm

“Importance of Breathing During Exercise”: Jim Sloan

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

“Proper Breathing Technique for Weightlifting”

Lifemojo: http://www.lifemojo.com/lifestyle/proper-breathing-technique-for-weight-lifting-7583644