How to Breathe When Cycling

It is important to breathe properly when riding a bicycle, as experts say how much oxygen our heart and lungs can deliver to the body’s cells is a primary indicator of cardiovascular fitness. While most of us tend to take breathing for granted, the way we breathe does affect our level of physical stamina. So whether you cycle or perform some other form of aerobic exercise to stay healthy, you need to maximize your breathing potential. Read on to learn how to breathe when cycling.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. First, determine whether you are a chest breather or a belly breather. Lie down and place one hand on your abdomen and the other hand on your chest. Inhale and watch to see whether the hand on your chest rises first or the hand on your abdomen.

2. Next, focus on your breathing. Listen carefully to your body. Are you among the majority of people who breathe too fast? If you chest breathe during exercise, you probably tend to tire more quickly than individuals who breathe deeply from the belly. High breathing does not allow you to inhale enough oxygen or exhale an adequate amount of carbon dioxide.

3. Concentrate on breathing deeply when you inhale, relaxing your belly so that it can move outward, expanding like a balloon. At the same time, your diaphragm should be expanding, as the air moves from your belly up into the chest. Remember, oxygen-rich blood will give you more energy.

4. When you exhale, breathe out slowly allowing your belly to pull in toward the spine. This helps the diaphragm to move upward as air empties from the lungs.

5. Continue to breathe deeply in a steady rhythm, matching your movements with your breathing.

Tips & Warnings

• As infants, we breathe naturally from the diaphragm, but the stresses of everyday life, as we grow older often causes us to tighten our diaphragms, and therefore, we begin to breathe more shallowly. Adults also seem to hold their breath more, which means that even less oxygen is able to get to the body’s organs and tissues.
• Research shows that most of us tend to be shallow breathers, breathing through the upper part of the chest. However, by not using all of our lung capacity, carbon dioxide can build up in the body causing fatigue and muscle tension.

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