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What I’m about to discuss is no-nonsense. No BS! Did you know that if the body is in too much of a sympathetic drive during maximal training and competition, blood can be redirected from the legs to feed the respiratory muscles?
In other words, if we're breathing too quickly, shallowly, and generating a stress/fight-or-flight nervous system response, excess blood is 'stolen' from the actively engaged muscles to the diaphragm. For obvious reasons, this is detrimental to our performance.
The diaphragm muscle relies on regular movement to ensure a healthy blood supply. Blood flow to the diaphragm muscle is actively regulated during its relaxation phase. Research by Hussain and Magder in 1991 indicates that the relaxation phase is primarily responsible for adapting to changes in blood perfusion resulting from heightened diaphragmatic activity. Diaphragmatic blood flow decreases during inspiration, and forceful contractions can even eliminate it entirely. This could be another plausible explanation for experiencing a stitch.
At peak exertion, approximately 15% of the overall oxygen expenditure during exercise is directed to the diaphragm and inspiratory muscles, as noted by Wetter et al. in 1999. As exercise intensity escalates, there is a progressive increase in the oxygen demand placed on the respiratory muscles, significantly contributing to the overall oxygen consumption of the entire body.
The heightened respiratory effort during maximal exercise induces notable alterations in local motor muscle blood flow, cardiac output, and the oxygen uptake of the entire body and actively engaged limbs. Vasoconstriction takes place due to the increase in sympathetic drive.
This vasoconstriction can reduce blood flow to the lower limbs due to an effect that occurs to protect oxygen delivery to the respiratory muscles, maintaining regulation of arterial blood gases, blood pH, pulmonary ventilation, and overall homeostasis. According to McConnell in 2011, this is blood stealing.
Breath training or breathwork plays an essential role in performance. We can see here that maintaining a breathing 'flow state' or a more balanced nervous system between sympathetic and parasympathetic during training and competition can help alleviate these performance-damaging effects.
How can we maintain slower and more controlled breathing while the working limbs are under a heavy metabolic load? We should be training our breathing during aerobic and anaerobic/zonal training. Ultimately, we need to be breathing nasally in zones 2/3 while adding a complementary breathing program consisting of intermittent hypoxic hypercapnic training (IHHT).
As a breathing coach/breathwork coach, I emphasize that putting our ego aside and slowing down to make way for retraining our breathing during training will reveal clear advantages during competition.
Increased efficiency, increased VO2 max, functional breathing mechanics, increased CO2 tolerance, increased O2 delivery to working muscles, increased ventilation, a balanced nervous system, increased recovery, and HRV—these benefits can be realised. There's more that can be seen in the list below. What's not to like?
When all of the body's systems are challenged during training and competition, what do we require the most? Oxygen. It's simple. As Massery (2006) said, 'Breathing always wins.' He's not wrong.
If you want to know more about how I, as a breathing coach/breathwork coach, can help you smash your PBs or perform at your best, reach out and contact me for a free 30-minute consultation.
