Be Positive, Breathing During Exercise, and Be Your Best Self
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Firing up that positive attitude will pay dividends. A positive mind will allow you to learn more effectively, see more, and optimize the formation of new habits.
Leverage your breathing to maximize your workout and cool down!
Your goal should not be the pursuit of winning or perfection, it should be the pursuit of doing everything you can to achieve excellence or the best you're capable of at this moment.
Starter Mindset Tip: Positive Mindset Payouts
It is enticing to be a critic, a cynic, and a pessimist. There is something comforting and easy in not getting your hopes up, and in laying judgment on others, and it seems easier to be the pessimist in a room full of optimists rather than the optimist in a room of pessimists. But to join them you are doing a disservice to yourself. The psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson has shown that a negative mindset narrows your perspective and focus. If, instead, you work at bringing a positive outlook to what you do, you will be giving yourself a head start on the road to a broader perspective, and success and enjoyment in whatever you are doing. So how do you start? Being positive is a habit, and like any habit, it takes the desire to implement paired with gentle, regular reminding to prevent yourself from slipping towards negativity. The more you pay attention, the easier it will be. And maybe the best part is that forging the habit of positive thinking will make all your other habits more doable, and more enjoyable along the way. Ultimately you can’t choose what happens in the world, but you can choose how you respond to it.
Health Recipe: Breath Before, During, and After Exercise
Timing: 5 minutes before exercise, 5 minutes after
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Serving Size: Ease your nose into it
Spice Level: Can get pretty caliente during a workout
INGREDIENTS
Just you and your breath
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Working on your breath during exercise will lead to big improvements in your day-to-day breathing. Pre-workout breath holds will increase your carbon dioxide levels, allowing your body to access the incoming oxygen during your workout. Focusing on proper breathing during your workout will stop you from overbreathing and flooding your system with oxygen during your workout (which will displace that carbon dioxide you worked so hard to build up during your breath holds). Your nose and your breath will act as your personal trainer and heart rate monitor during your workout. If you find yourself struggling to maintain nasal breathing during your workout, slow it down a little, catch your breath through your nose, and then carry on with your workout. Or, if you want to stay at high intensity, let your mouth take over, and meet back up with your nose in the cool down! Taking a couple minutes at the end of your workout to slow down and catch your breath is a great way to continue on with your day.
INSTRUCTIONS
Pre Workout: Perform between 2 and 10 minutes of breath holds before you start your workout to get your body primed and ready for the workout and to avoid breathlessness.
Exhale as you would normally.
Without breathing in, pinch your nose closed and maintain the same walking speed while counting how many steps you take.
When you start feeling a strong urge to breathe, release your nose.
Breathe in lightly through your nose (about half the air that feels normal) for 10 to 15 seconds.
Breathe normally for around 30 seconds and then repeat
During: Try to breathe through the nose, breathe low into your stomach, and breathe nice and light. Your nose is a great guide for workout intensity.
If you are doing a high intensity workout such as HIIT, let your mouth take over, and meet back up with your nose during the cool down.
Post Workout: Here is the fun one. Sit down, lay down, whatever you want and focus on slow controlled breathing for 2-5 minutes. Slow inhales through your nose, and long controlled exhales through pursed lips. This will get rid of all of that adrenaline coursing through your body, and allow you to carry on with your day, and improve recovery.
PRO TIP: If you are like us, your workouts will start to become easier and more enjoyable as you practice this technique. Easier because your body is starting to be used more efficiently, and more enjoyable because this recipe allows you to focus on another element instead of just the workout itself.
*It is always hard doing something before a workout because you are already often short on time, but give those breath holds a chance, and see how much better your workouts become.
**Nasal breathing during a workout can be tough at first. It is tempting to just revert back to mouth breathing because it is too hard. Stick with it, let your nose be your pacer, and you will be able to rock nasal breathing for the whole workout in no time.
*** If you can’t fit in the 2-5 minutes of slow breathing while lying down, then at least focus on slow breathing while you are in the shower or on the drive or walk home. Bring the calmness back to your body for the rest of your day.
Dessert Quote:
“Your potential, the absolute best you’re capable of—that’s the metric to measure yourself against. Your standards are. Winning is not enough. People can get lucky and win. People can be assholes and win. Anyone can win. But not everyone is the best possible version of themselves.” Ryan Holiday
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about proper breathing:
McKeown, P. (2015). The Oxygen Advantage: The simple, scientifically
proven breathing technique that will revolutionise your health and fitness. Hachette UK.
Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art. Penguin.
