- Threshold Performance Club
- Posts
- Threshold Performance Club| The fitness newsletter
Threshold Performance Club| The fitness newsletter
Threshold #3 | Just Breathe
Robert Hester
November 13, 2022
Threshold #3 | Just Breathe
Just breathe.
A simple concept, yet difficult to do effectively.
If you’re a little confused by this statement, there are many reasons to talk about breathing:
1) Breathing effectively can increase your performance in training & whilst racing.
2) Breathing can reduce your stress
3) Breathe exercises can change your state - set you up for success each day
Now take a breathe and read below.
Breathing effectively during training
It may not be well-known, but there are specific ways to breathe. I’m going to be focusing on breathing during high intensity training.
This has really been paramount to increasing my running ability.
In 2021 I jumped into CrossFit. The 5 time world champion; Matt Fraser; whilst running a coaching session on YouTube gave hints and tips around breathing - at first I thought this was bizarre, but then I put his coaching into action. Matt breathes in 3 sharp times for every 1 exhale. In step count terms, he’s inhaling every 3-4 strides, and exhaling with one sharp push.
Crossing over to triathlon, current Ironman (full distance) & Kona champion Gustav Iden shared his insights on breathing during a podcast. His one tip to boost V02 max capability was to focus on breathing properly until it’s second nature. Breathing properly meaning learning to inhale right into the diaphragm.
If two of the highest performing athletes on the planet are using breathing techniques - it’s something to pay attention to.
It’s certainly a skill to master - and has truly worked wonders for me.
Breathing can reduce stress
This is complex science, so I won’t focus on that.
What I’ll focus on is how breathing through the diaphragm for upwards of 40 inhales in the morning literally changes my state. It’s subtle, however I’ve noticed on the days I don’t follow the practice of waking up in the morning & taking 10 minutes to settle myself into the day with an inhalation practice, my body asks me where the wake up is.
A more immediate way to breathe directly through the diaphragm is to have cold showers - of which I do.
Icons of now-popular culture, such as Wim Hoff have brought the benefits of breathing to the forefront. For those in the biohacking community, figures such as Ben Greenfield also raise the benefits of breathe work on everyday life.
To quote from Wim Hoff directly:
The amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing, influences the amount of energy that is released into our body cells. On a molecular level, this progresses via various chemical and physiological processes. Breathing is the easiest and most instrumental part of the autonomic nervous system to control and navigate. In fact, the way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body.
Links:
The most crucial aspect of breathe work for real results is to routinely practice.
Shop natural supplements formulated to enhance performance:
🌱💊 542 Performance Nutrition Daily Green’s ultimate super greens capsules are a perfect blend of superfoods, vitamins, minerals and wholefood-sourced ingredients enhancing your immune system to help you perform in training.
🍄 542 Performance Nutrition Mushroom+ capsules are single-ingredient, high-strength mushroom supplements, helping you deliver energy to your body for training.
💪 542 Performance Nutrition Marine Collagen is the highest quality, and most bioavailable source of collagen available, helping to provide structural integrity to joints and bones.
💤 542 Performance Nutrition Ashwagandha+ (KSM66) is formulated with Cordyceps & Ginseng to help combat stress and adrenal fatigue, while also supporting the immune system, energy levels & mental performance.
🏋️♂️ 542 Performance Nutrition Plant Protein delivers 17g of premium vegan protein per serving with just 1.5g of carbs, 88 calories & no artificial sweeteners.
🏋️♂️ 542 Performance Nutrition Whey Protein delivers 22g of premium whey protein per serving with just 1.2g of carbs, 108 calories & no artificial sweeteners.
Changing your state through breathe work
I’m going to leave one link below to a YouTube video.
See through the hype, lights and hysteria of what you watch.
Focus on the words and the actions. Repeat every day for 30 days and - take my word for it - it shall change your entire mental framework at the beginning of the day.
I say this as someone who does-not-buy-into-gimmicks. I don’t trust them & I do not believe routines until I’ve put them into my own daily practice.
This routine I did every day for 2 months leading up to Ironman Weymouth and it genuinely transformed my mental framework.
So, take a breathe.
During big training blocks, you’re going to be doing multiple workouts a day.
To ensure you can perform at high intensity and get high quality sessions in follow one upper body workout with a lower body one.
For example, a 2km pull session in the pool @ 6am in the morning, followed by a 15km zone 2 base run at 4pm.
This way you’ll ensure you can get high quality session in, without over-doing specific muscle groups, leading to fatigue and ineffective training.
V02 max hill sprint bike reps: 24x 30s @ 5%+ incline
Warm up:
45 minutes @ Z2 / easy riding
Main Set:
8x 30s hill sprints @ 5%+ incline
30 minute ride @ Z2 / easy riding
8x 30s hill sprints @ 5%+ incline
30 minute ride @ Z2/ easy riding
8x 30s hill sprints @ 5%+ incline
Recovery
30 minute ride @ Z1/Z2 heart rate zone
Thank you as always for reading all the way down to these final sentences.
You can follow me further on Strava here.
Have a great week pushing your threshold.
Robert